16 and Pregnant
by general wildcat
Summary: Being a teenager is supposed to be easy. But when you throw a baby into the mix there's struggles, fears, relationships and school to think about. The hardest part? Growing up and trying to raise a kid when you're still a kid. Chaylor. Rated T; censored language. Inspired by MTV's documentary series 16 and Pregnant.
1. Chapter 1

So I know this is probably really wrong, for me to start posting a new story when I have two going now I can barely keep up with. Honestly, I've had this idea for a few months now and I kept playing with it in my head and thinking about what I can do with this. So whenever I had an idea I just...well, started adding to the story. I've got a total of 21 chapter written as of this posting, but that doesn't mean I'm going to post everything all at once. I don't know how long this story's gonna be. It is based off of the reality series 16 and Pregnant - for those of you who've seen the show, think of the italics at the beginning of each chapter kind of Taylor's narrative. This isn't meant to be an accurate story about teen pregnancy or a pregnancy itself, so especially when it comes to talking about what goes on during the pregnancy or what can happen, I will screw some things up. But I want this story to focus on the emotion and development of Chad and Taylor's relationship. I won't keep blabbing on and hold you off on reading this any longer, so I will shut up until the end of this chapter and I hope you enjoy. :)  
**Disclaimer: I do NOT own High School Musical. ...And for that matter, I don't own 16 and Pregnant either.**

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**Chapter One**

_ Hi, my name's Taylor. I'm sixteen and from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm keeping this log to document the biggest change in my life. I want to look back on this experience and remember that no matter what I'm going through, this will always be the hardest thing I've ever had to do. So let me start by telling you a little about myself. I'm currently finishing my junior year of high school and I've got a lot on my plate. I'm president of the Chemistry Club, head of the Scholastic Decathlon team and maintain straight A's. I've got big plans for next year, too. I'm going to run for senior class president. That's only my first step to becoming a politician. My dream is to attend Yale University and become president. But I still have to finish high school first. My family isn't too supportive of my dreams, though. My mother passed away when I was young so it's just my dad and me. He and I don't get along so I try to stay out of the house as much as possible. That's why I'm always with my boyfriend Chad. We may be attached at the hip now, but no one ever suspected us getting together because he's a jock and I'm a nerd. Luckily I get along great with Chad's family. He lives with his mom, older brother and younger sister so they always make room for me to spend a night. But they're going to have to make room for one more because I'm pregnant._

Two weeks. That's how long it's been since Taylor found out she was pregnant. But to her it felt more like one long day. Every time she glanced at the clock to see what time it was she didn't see the hour hand move, only the minute hand. She found herself uneasy, nauseous, and unable to sleep. Taylor couldn't even focus on school like she normally did. She skipped Chemistry Club and Scholastic Decathlon meetings, and now she was even having second thoughts about running for class president next year. She tried to concentrate on all her schoolwork, hoping that if she put her mind to it hard enough then she could stop thinking for five minutes about her being pregnant and it would go away.

But it wasn't going away. It was there to stay. For roughly two months Taylor woke up every morning sick. It didn't even hit her until she confided in her best friend Gabriella. But not even she thought Taylor could be pregnant; Gabriella initially thought it was a stomach virus or something. Taylor was sure she could recall Gabriella's exact words:

"Well, it must be the flu because there's no way you're pregnant."

It couldn't have been a more awkward moment between the girls. Yet in the end Taylor was relieved she had her best friend by her side. She was grateful she avoided her dad so much at home and she wasn't ready to tell Chad. If Taylor had to go through this alone until one of them found out then she would probably lose her mind. It was still a shock to Gabriella but she remained supportive nonetheless. It was a combination of concern and excitement; anyone would be worried that their best friend was going to bee a teen mom but there were so many times where they daydreamed about having families and raising kids. But the mixed emotions never stepped it from being a main topic of conversation.

"So what was your reaction?"

Taylor looked up from her homework. The girls were sitting across from each other on Gabriella's bed with textbooks and paper scattered across the sheets. It may have been a typical scene for them, but the fact that Gabriella kept bringing up the pregnancy made Taylor less and less comfortable.

"Gabriella can we please not talk about it?" she asked.

"You can't just keep pretending like it isn't here, Taylor," Gabriella responded.

"I can sure try," she muttered. Taylor looked down at her paper once again and attempted to figure out the answer to a math equation. She wrote down one thing, and then angrily scribbled it away with the eraser. Upon trying to answer it again, the reaction was the same. Gabriella raised an eyebrow and looked over her friend's shoulder. Taylor had been writing the same thing over and over again and erasing it over and over again.

"Uh, Taylor," Gabriella said, "I don't think b plus the square root of 4x times -6y over 12z equals baby."

One moment of silence and not only did Taylor drop her pencil as fast as she could, but she also crumbled up her paper and threw it on the ground. Gabriella reached out to her friend but Taylor yanked away and got off the bed. She stormed to the other side of the room and plopped herself onto the couch. She sat facing the wall, her back towards Gabriella, and her arms folded tightly across her chest. There was barely any hesitance before Gabriella followed her friend and sat next to her.

"You know you're going to have to talk about it some time," she said softly. Gabriella placed her hand on Taylor's shoulder but Taylor once again jerked away.

"I don't want to," she mumbled.

Gabriella sighed. "This is going to keep affecting you negatively if you don't talk about it. You can't keep things bottled up inside. This baby's coming whether you like it or not."

Taylor shook her head, "You just don't get it do you Gabs?"

"Then talk to me about it," she nearly begged.

"What does it matter? Until you go through this you're not going to understand," Taylor argued. "I'm having a baby at _sixteen_, Gabriella! I can't do that! I don't have a job, a high school degree…. It's nearly impossible to finish high school let alone college with a baby! How can I support a baby when I can't even support myself?"

"So what do you expect to do, get rid of it?" Gabriella gasped.

"I don't know, maybe," Taylor blurt out, not even thinking.

Gabriella's face fell. "Taylor how could you even think about that? Every child deserves a chance at life, why is this one any different?"

"Because it's my child, my body. I have a say in what I do," she answered.

"Just because you can get rid of something doesn't mean it'll go away. It means you'll have to live with that decision for the rest of your life," Gabriella said.

"And I'm not going to have a life if I have it," Taylor retorted. "My life will be all about the baby; I'm not ready for it."

"No one ever is, no matter how prepared or not they are but do you think that stops people from raising their babies?" Gabriella questioned. "People struggle with their kids every day but they live their lives. They do it to make a better life for the babies and for themselves. Don't you see, Taylor? Maybe this a sign."

"A sign that I have to drastically change me life?" she questioned. "Gabriella, all I've ever dreamed about is going into politics. I've seen how politicians run the country and how many of them have screwed up? I want to show the world that there can be at least one politician they trust and that can make the right decisions. That's me, Gabriella. It's all I've thought about my entire life!"

"But haven't you ever thought about kids? About having a family?" Gabriella asked.

Taylor opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. She'd be lying if she said she never once thought about having a family. She imagined having children, raising them with a husband and living in a nice house. But when she compared that to the world of politics, it was impossible. If she were to become a politician then there'd be no time for families or kids. Work would be her life. Taylor wouldn't be able to spend quality time with her children or watch them grow up or even get to know them because she'd be too busy running a stupid country. And even if she had kids after she retired it'd be too late by then; how would she even know if she'd want kids when she's forty or fifty years old?

Taylor blinked, trying to conjure up a believable answer. When she found herself unable to she merely shook her head. "What are you saying?"

"Just that peoples' dreams change all the time. Sometimes in ways they'd never expect," Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe this is what the baby's doing for you."

Taylor sighed. The way her friend was talking was filled with determination and stubbornness but also with hope and compassion. Gabriella was generally an easy person to agree with; she didn't care what everyone was doing as long as she was around her friends and everyone was happy. She wanted what was best for people and didn't want the slightest worry to get their fears going. Taylor knew that better than anyone; it was why she and Gabriella got along so well. While Gabriella saw the hope in everything and looked with emotions, Taylor saw everything from a logical perspective. She was just as determined as Gabriella but more short-tempered. Taylor would do anything to prove her point. It was probably why she would make such a good politician; when Taylor tried to keep her emotions inside and let passion and fury take over people saw her more as being a b*tch.

"Gabriella-" she started quietly but was cut off.

"Does Chad even know yet?" Gabriella asked.

Taylor's eyes widened. Chad had no clue. That was why she was trying so hard to avoid him. How does a girl walk up to her boyfriend of nearly three years and say, "Guess what, I'm pregnant"? There were a million different ways that could go. But Taylor looked at the statistics; she calculated and recalculated. Every statistic pointed to Chad not being there. Even if by some stroke up luck he said he would be there, the two of them would never last. Babies did things to couples, especially teen couples. No one was meant to find their soul mate at sixteen and even if they were it wouldn't last. Teens had their whole lives ahead of them and thought about nothing. They thought they were invincible and did what they wanted. That included intimacy, drugs, drinking, and cheating. And Taylor was positive that if she and Chad stayed together with the baby then that would be them in six months or less.

Judging from Taylor's silence, it didn't take rocket science for Gabriella to figure out the answer. "You haven't told him."

"I can't," Taylor whispered.

"Yes you can. And you have to," Gabriella responded. "He's the dad. Maybe he doesn't have as much say in this as you do, but he still has a say. He at least deserves to know."

"And what if he wants it?" she asked.

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow. "Then wouldn't that make the choice obvious?"

"I mean, what if he wants it and I don't?" she corrected.

"You're not going to know unless you tell him."

"And what if he doesn't want it?"

"I guess then you'll have the answer you want."

"And if he wants nothing to do with either of us?"

"His loss."

"But even if that does happen and I make the decision I think I'm going to, that's not going to change anything. It won't repair our relationship, it won't change anything that happened, nothing can be taken back…" she blabbed on.

"Taylor, get a grip!" Gabriella gasped, grabbing Taylor's shoulders. Taylor breathed heavily and Gabriella became more concerned watching her friend. "Wow, you're more worried about this than you thought, aren't you?" she realized.

Taylor couldn't bear to answer her friend. She just looked away, refusing to make eye contact. Taylor didn't want to show she had too much emotion towards the baby. She was sure she already knew what she wanted to do about it…so why was she having second thoughts now?

Gabriella sighed and put her hands in her lap. She moved some hair away from her face and thought for a moment before speaking. "Didn't you always say that you wished your mom was still here? So she could help you and be someone you always go to? Someone who takes care of you and you look up to?"

"Yeah," Taylor admitted.

"Don't you think that's what your baby wants?" she replied. "To have you there and know you'll always be there and care for him or her no matter what?"

"And what if the baby wants me to wait to do that when I actually have the resources to and I'm ready for that responsibility?" Taylor asked.

"And what if you're ready now?" Gabriella pointed out. "You've practically been raising yourself, Tay. How many times have you said you fought with your dad or he doesn't care what you do or anything of the sort? Don't you want better for your baby than that?"

"Of course I do!" Taylor insisted. "But how can I be sure of that now, especially when I still have to finish high school and can't guarantee either of our futures, let alone Chad's choice?"

"Then this is something you should be talking to him about," she urged. "Taylor, please. If not for yourself or me then please, just talk to Chad for the baby's sake. Even if he God forbid says the worst of the worst then at least you can say you talked to him and can go about doing whatever you want."

Taylor shook her head and looked at Gabriella in disbelief. "Why are you so insistent on this anyway? It's not like this directly affects you. This is my child, not yours."

"Because I want better for your baby…my future kids…any kids we ever have…than we've had," she answered. "You didn't have the greatest home life growing up. You only had your dad and you two try so hard to act as if the other doesn't exist. My dad walked out on me when I was three. I may have had the best mom in the world, but she went through so much just for me. She worked two or three jobs at a time so she could support me and feed me and keep a roof over our heads. No child deserves only one parent; regardless of how often they're around. But what they do deserve is unconditional love and that's why my mom gave me. And I know you can give it, too. And if Chad's feelings for you are anywhere near half as true as what he says then I'm sure it'll be enough for the baby."

Taylor highly doubted that any amount of love would be enough for a baby. Babies needed formula. Diapers. Attention. Toys. Clothes. A crib. Things that Taylor, with or without Chad, could barely afford. She appreciated the effort Gabriella was putting in and she couldn't ask for a better friend than that; but it didn't stop her fears for the future. She should have known to think things through rather than act on impulse and emotions and she didn't. Now she was paying the price. And as much as she hated to admit it, Taylor didn't want part of that price to be Chad.

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So, we've reached the end of the first chapter. The plan is for the story to start out slow and start to pick up. I think I wrote this first chapter...maybe a couple months ago? Within the first month of my starting to type this story in Microsoft Word, I got up to four chapters and I didn't start again for a while. I'm beginning to think that when it comes to my stories the best aspect for me is to get an idea ahead of time and be able to write a bunch at a time, read it over, write more, and when I get to a certain point, post it. So that way I feel like I can kinda stay in the vibe of the story. Anyway, like I mentioned, I don't know how long this story will be but it definitely won't be short. I think what I'll do is when I get to a later point in typing the story, when I post the next chapter at that time I'll ask you guys how long you want it to continue for, like if it should mimic the tv series 16 and Pregnant and end when the baby's a few months old, or if it should maybe go till the baby's a year old. I should probably shut up now before i give too much away. I'm expecting, maybe once every couple of weeks adding a new chapter to the story so everything I've written doesn't get published too quickly. And I'm hoping that hearing feedback from you guys about this story will also give me the inspiration - during my not-so-good job search, of course - to get back into the swing of my Princess and the Frog and Deleted HSM Scenes Version 2 and continue those as well. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter and are looking forward to where the story is going and I'm excited to share it with you. Until next time, have a happy Friday, an awesome weekend, and the upcoming holidays! =)  
P.S. Just for the record, i did at one point draw each of the HSM girls what their pictures would look like if they were on 16 and Pregnant xD So if anyone's curious to see what they look like (Gabriella's picture came out the best in my opinion, which I find ironic since obviously we know who my favorite girl is xD) check them out on my deviantART page, pinkie-d :3


	2. Chapter 2

Ok I've only written up to chapter 25 so far. I'm not sure how much that's saying exactly, since I'm unsure of how long the story is going to be and I have been facing writer's block. But I figured, there hasn't been any Chaylor stories updated this week (that I saw of) so now seemed like a good time to post chapter two. Hope everyone enjoys.

**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical**

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**Chapter Two **

_I've thought a lot about my conversation with Gabriella last week but I'm still not ready to tell Chad. Right now Gabriella's the only one I trust with my secret. I don't want anyone else finding out. I've been trying to live my life as though nothing's changed but it's been difficult. I'm afraid my friends are starting to get suspicious; a lot of them noticed I've been keeping more to myself than usual and some of them haven't been happy with Chemistry Club or the Decathlon meetings ending earlier especially when the Decathlon team has its first competition next month. I'm hoping to continue avoiding Chad until then because at least when that point comes I'll have an excuse for not seeing him. And when he starts basketball season we'll barely have time for each other. So I'm really hoping I can get this to blow over somehow without getting him involved. _

This Decathlon meeting wasn't going any better than the day before; Taylor had instructed Gabriella to take over after an hour when Taylor felt the powerful urge to hurl. She ran out the door to the nearest bathroom and the next time anyone saw her was sitting over the toilet seat. Gabriella had found Taylor nearly forty-five minutes later and insisted she call her mom so they could take Taylor home but Taylor refused. She ended up walking home herself without telling anyone and Gabriella had to bring over her books. Today Taylor had been going back and forth between the meeting and the bathroom. Every ten or twenty minutes she would feel fine but then barely make it to the toilet in time. She never imagined morning sickness to be this terrible; nothing she was eating was agreeing with her and her stomach hadn't been in this many knots since the final question of last year's Decathlon competition. She finally found herself lightly munching on packs of crackers stashed in her backpack; they were the only things that seemed to help and Taylor was kind of hoping there was an off chance that the salty smell covered for her breath. Unfortunately when she returned to the science lab for the fifth time that meeting Taylor was met with angry stares from everyone aside from Gabriella.

"Taylor, what's going on with you? You're not acting like yourself," Martha observed.

Even worse, not all remarks were that generous.

"This is not the kind of tolerance you stand for as leader of this team," Timothy insisted.

"How are we supposed to win this year if you're not focused? We're dead meat without you."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Don't you know how important this is to us?"

Gabriella shook her head and tried to calm everyone down, "Guys don't be too hard on her."

Taylor put her hand up. "I can handle myself, Gabriella." She was then met once again with the angry stares. "Look, I've got a lot going on right now. If any of you have a problem take it up with me, don't complain behind my back."

"You've been running out on us the past five meetings," Timothy explained. "You've hardly been doing anything to carry this team and Gabriella's doing all the work. What happened to your big speech last year, about how you weren't going to let the Knights slay the Wildcats a fourth year in a row? We had them in our grasp and you let us down. Now you're doing it again."

"It's not intentional," Taylor responded.

"I'm sure it's not. Unlike your restroom breaks," Timothy scoffed.

Taylor scrunched her nose, "What's what supposed to mean?"

"You really didn't think we'd catch on?" Martha asked. "Come on, Taylor, it's so obvious."

"It is?" Taylor asked. She stole a glance form Gabriella, who mouthed a no and rapidly shook her head. Taylor turned her attention back to the team but was shocked at their next retort.

"You're anorexic."

"What?" Taylor's jaw dropped.

"Taylor, our IQ's rival yours. We're not stupid," Timothy rolled his eyes. "You've been running to the bathroom every chance you get, you've been taking tiny bites of your food, and not to mention I'm pretty sure you smell like vomit…"

Taylor took a second to check her breath. Suddenly she wished she kept a pack of gum on her.

"How could you, Taylor? How could you diminish your reputation just to look skinnier?" Timothy demanded. "I thought you were a brilliant mind!"

"And I thought you were only supposed to have braces for three years," Taylor retorted.

Timothy gasped and covered his mouth.

Gabriella quickly stepped between Taylor and the team. "Guys, please, can't we all just get along? We've got the competition to think about, don't let some silly assumption get in the way of that."

"It's not a silly assumption, we know it's true. You can stop covering for her," Martha said.

"I'm not covering for anyone," Gabriella argued.

"On the contrary, you are," Timothy corrected. "How many times in these last meetings has Taylor rushed out of here only to leave you in charge of us? Obviously you know what's going on with her and you're the only one she trusts. I guess we're not as good friends as I thought we were."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Pull yourself together, Timothy. Gabriella's my best friend and we tell each other everything. I don't need to share my life story with everyone in this room."

"What about your boyfriend?" Timothy questioned.

"What about him?" Taylor responded.

"Has he got anything to do with this? Is he the one making you do this to yourself?" he demanded.

Not directly, Taylor wanted to say. "Chad doesn't have anything to do with this. He doesn't control me. And I'd appreciate it if you kept my academic life and my love life separate but I suppose you're too jealous for that, aren't you?"

Timothy's jaw dropped. He was about to retort when a distinct cough interrupted. Timothy and the rest of the team turned to the doorway where they saw Chad standing. Taylor let out a sigh of relief; as much as she wanted to avoid Chad, now couldn't have been a better time for him to show up.

"Taylor can I steal you from your friends?" Chad asked after a slight pause. "I left my science notebook locked in the classroom and I was wondering if I could borrow your notes."

"Of course," Taylor nodded instantly. She grabbed her backpack and headed towards Chad.

"Are you really going to do this again, Taylor?" Martha sighed. "We need you."

"And you can't have Gabriella take over for you now just because your boyfriend is more important than your toilet seat or us," Timothy added angrily.

Taylor turned back to them with a hand on her hip, "You don't want Gabriella in charge anymore? Fine then. Meeting adjourned. See you next week." She waved and then turned on her heel, leaving with Chad. "Thanks for getting me out of there. You're a life saver," she smiled to him.

"Hey you looked like you could use a hand," he replied slipping an arm around her. "I just happened to be passing by and heard the ruckus."

Taylor raised an eyebrow and smirked, "So you really don't need my science notes then?"

"Trust me, it's not your notes I need," Chad grinned.

Taylor smiled and rolled her eyes. She reached up and pecked his lips before continuing with him down the hall.

"So what's this I'm hearing about anorexia?" Chad asked.

Taylor shook her head, hoping Chad wasn't about to buy into the rumor. "Please, it's just everyone over reacting."

"So you're not running to the bathroom every five minutes then?" Chad asked hopefully.

Taylor held her breath. How was she going to get out of this one? "Not on purpose. Just, food hasn't been agreeing with me, that's all."

"Are you sure?" he wondered.

"I'm positive," she lied.

Chad stopped walking and turned to face her. "But you'd tell me if something really was wrong, right?"

Taylor bit her tongue. He was doing a really good job of pulling the guilt trip. As if he knew she was hiding something. But now wasn't the time to tell him. They were in school, where there were still clubs and activities going on. Anyone could waltz into the hallway and eavesdrop and before they'd know it the whole school would find out. Taylor didn't want it out that way. If she had to tell Chad it was going to be on her terms.

"I would," she nodded. "You don't have to worry about anything."

"Good," Chad answered with a small smile looking relieved. He leaned forward and kissed her lightly.

Taylor smiled; it was a small gesture like that, which made her wonder why she doubted Chad. Even though she told him she had been throwing up he didn't just want one kiss from her, he wanted two. And he didn't seem to care about her horrible breath. He just wanted to be with her. It was the kind of things that made her heart race, knowing that he was showing her how much he cared. As if that weren't enough all it took was one look to make her melt into his eyes. Two months ago it was the best feeling in the world to her, being around Chad like that. Now she only felt guilt and sorrow for keeping something so big from him. She pulled back slightly and took a deep breath.

"Actually, there is something I need to tell you," she admitted. "But not right now."

Chad looked at her concerned. "Is everything ok?"

Taylor hesitated. "I'm not sure yet," she breathed. "But I promise I'll tell you soon."

"Why can't you tell me now?" he asked.

What was she supposed to say? That if she told him she was pregnant then the whole school would find out? That now wasn't the right time? That he needed to trust her? Pheh, trust. How could he trust her to wait to tell him when she couldn't even trust his reaction? Taylor couldn't keep lying to him, she was sure of that. Instead she took his hands in hers and met his eyes.

"It's just…it's kind of a private and personal thing," she explained. "And I'm not ready to talk about it yet. But as soon as I am, you'll be the first person I talk to. I love you and I have no intention of keeping anything from you forever."

Chad looked at her doubtfully, giving Taylor the impression that he knew she was hiding something. They haven't been together long enough to know every little thing about each other, but it was long enough that they could catch on when one was lying or when something was bothering one of them.

"Promise?" he asked.

As much as Taylor wanted to keep this from him still, she knew she couldn't. Part of her had been hoping that she could make everything go away and act like nothing changed. But the truth was that everything changed and Chad needed to be a part of it. "I promise," she nodded.

Chad immediately wrapped his arms around her and engulfed her in a warm, loving hug. Taylor returned the hug, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Don't worry," he whispered softly, "whatever it is we'll get through it together."

But that was the kind of thing that really made Taylor worry.

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I really wish I had something to say at the end of this chapter, cause I usually so have something to say and it's usually about the chapter I posted or what's going on or what my plans are...but I got nothing. I'm not sure if it's cause it's like one a.m. right now or what. I dunno, I guess I just thought this'd be a good chapter to introduce Chad and give an idea of their relationship. So...yeah, yeah that's pretty much it I've got to say, I guess. Kinda uneventful. Well, I'll let you guys get a move on and do whatever it is you guys do now. Hope everyone is enjoying Hanukah (as am I) and I wish you good luck on any midterms/finals coming up in yours schools and...yeah. Happy holidays. I'll post chapter three next week. Hope you guys will enjoy this story. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Ok so I know I said I'd update within a week and I a little late on that. There were a couple of things stopping me this time. I heard about what happened at Connecticut and I've been working on a text portrait, which I've been hoping to sell and donate the money to Sandy Hook. Then of course, I got sick which doesn't help at all. I was hoping to write another chapter but I tried twice to start Chapter 26 and had absolutely no luck. I wanted to update one more time before the end of this year, so once this chapter is posted - like ten minutes after I type this a/n - I'm going to read through the story I've got so far and see if I can make it through writing another chapter!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or 16 and Pregnant**

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**Chapter Three **

_I miss my mom, now more than ever. Here I am about to make the biggest decision of my life and the one person I need who could tell me better than anyone else, she's gone. I don't like to think about Mom's death. Especially considering what it did to my dad. I can't say he's always been there or the best role model, but he was better when Mom was here. Let's just say, when you meet my dad you'll understand where my temper comes from._

Monday afternoon was probably the best Taylor felt since her discovery. She had minimal morning sickness and was only starting to get a few cravings. She was even able to sit through an entire Decathlon meeting without getting up more than once to use the restroom. Her teammates seemed to have cooled down for the time being, but Taylor was sure she wasn't out of the woods yet. After all, it was only going to get harder from here. And it would only be a matter of time before they found out the real reason she had to puke as much as she did.

Needless to say, the bitterness and cold stares from her teammates were heaven compared to what she'd have to deal with at home. Taylor couldn't even imagine her father's reaction when he'd find out. Taylor could hardly recall a time when he didn't have anger issues. Even before her mother died her father had a tendency to get angry. He would yell over the simplest things, like why the dishes were piling up when Taylor's mom had to change her diaper. Or why his alarm didn't go off. Or when a telemarketer would call asking for something stupid. But her father would never hit anyone.

That is, until Taylor's mom passed away.

It's never a pleasant thing to hear that a loved one has cancer. Even when a five-year-old hears it they know it's a bad word. Cancer. It sounded even scarier when a doctor said it. Cancer. Your mother has cancer. Taylor could still hear the voice so clearly in her head. Granted, she couldn't remember what kind of cancer her mother had. Breast? Ovarian? Lung? Skin? Not that it mattered; by the time the doctors diagnosed it, the disease spread further than anyone thought. Stage three, Taylor recalls. But no matter how high or low the stage was, and even though cancer treatments were progressing, nothing seemed to work for Taylor's mom. She was gone in less than a year. It was a time like that in which Taylor needed her father more than ever. He was all she had left; she needed to lean on him for support and know that everything would be ok somehow.

Except he didn't give that to her. He gave her worse. He hit her. Taylor didn't understand back then why. Cancer took away her mother, not Taylor. How could her father blame her for something so horrible? It wasn't like Taylor was the one who gave her cancer. But her father gave a completely different story. One day Taylor asked why he hit her. Her father insisted that Taylor took her mother away from him; that it was all her fault. His side of the story was that Mrs. McKessie was so busy taking care of Taylor that she didn't even notice when she was sick. She didn't bother to go to the doctor when she wasn't feeling well or realize how horrible she was getting. She was too worried about Taylor to do anything.

Taylor didn't understand how she could be blamed for that; her mother was doing what she was supposed to – be a loving, wonderful, caring mother. Maybe as she grew older, Taylor came to terms with the fact that her father was dealing with grief and that she knew it was never her fault. However growing up was a different story. Hearing him blame her everyday and getting punished for it…it was the worst feeling in the world. Over time Taylor learned to ignore her father and just take the beating as they came. Some were bad. Some were worse. Some didn't hurt at all. That was the reason why she avoided home as much as possible, not because they merely didn't get along like she led everyone else on to believe. It was times like those that she was thankful to have Gabriella and Chad in her life; if there was ever a time when her father was too much for her to handle she could just go to one of their houses and stay there for as long as she wanted. Taylor was ashamed to say that she felt welcomed into their homes, not like a burden. The burden was in her father's house. And that was one of the reasons she was so insistent on wanting to get rid of the baby. How could she bring it home to a place that wasn't even a home? A place that was so dangerous? If God forbid Chad wasn't in the picture and one day Taylor's dad beat her so badly then what would happen to the baby?

Taylor was shocked to walk into the house and hear silence. The living room and kitchen were dirty, but empty. The laundry room in the back was disastrous. Taylor was hoping that her father was still out, and she could just lock herself in her room for the rest of the night. Unfortunately she had no such luck. As she ascended the stairs, Taylor felt a lump in her throat. Something stunk upstairs. There was humping. And grunting. Groaning. A little screaming. Taylor was disgusted; the absolute last thing she ever wanted to come home to was her father…well, doing _that_. Fighting the urge to throw up she ran into her room and slammed the door behind her. She dropped her books and took a few deep breaths. Now if only she could tune out the humping. What was even in his room, an elephant? Taylor glanced down at her stomach.

"Sorry you have to hear that," she apologized softly.

Wait, was she seriously just talking to her stomach? It wasn't even a baby in there yet; it was an embryo or something. They didn't even have ears yet, did they? How Taylor hated biology.

"Maybe some homework will keep my occupied," she decided to herself. Taylor took out a textbook from her backpack and approached her desk. She sat down and took out a sheet of loose-leaf paper from the drawer. She placed the paper on the desk first, then the textbook. Taylor barely got to pick up her pen to start writing when a slam was heard. "Sh*t," Taylor cursed. The next thing she knew, her face was met with her father's hand.

"What do you think you're doing storming in here like that?" he demanded. "Couldn't you tell I was busy?"

Taylor rubbed her cheek and glared at him. "I was trying not to," she answered stoically.

He slapped her again. "Maybe you'll think twice before making so much noise coming into _my_ house!"

Taylor attempted to now let him see how his constant hitting affected her. "_Mom's_ house," she corrected angrily. "This was Mom's house. She bought it, you moved in and had me. And last I checked, I still live here. It's my room and I can do what I want. I don't tell you what to do in your room do I, Father?"

"Watch your f*cking mouth, little lady!" he yelled.

Taylor rose from her seat. "I'll watch my mouth when you take a shower! You smell like another wh*re got to you."

The next thing she knew, Taylor fell over her chair and was knocked onto the floor.

"I WANT YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE NOW!" he screamed.

Taylor didn't give a second thought. She was done arguing. There had been too many times where she fought hard and regretted it. Quite frankly, she wasn't in the mood to deal with more hitting today. What if he hit her in the stomach? Or worse, when she was bigger? Taylor wasn't about to let that happen. Without another retort, Taylor grabbed her books and left as fast as she could. The second she stepped outside she let out a sigh of relief. Though the relief was short-lived. She sat on the porch and placed her books beside her. Taylor glanced down at her stomach and rubbed it lightly. The best thing to do was to let it go, wasn't it? Before it was too late? Before things got even worse? But then why did Taylor suddenly feel so…protective? It was barely even living inside of her yet and already she was scared that something had happened to it. What if…?

What if she lost the baby because of her father? What if he was the one to kill it? If Taylor was going to do what she thought was going to do, then how would that make her any better than him?

* * *

Huh...maybe I should try to do one more update to this story before 2012 ends tomorrow at midnight cause this is a really depressing way to end the year of little story updates! Granted, I have thought about changing the background story of Taylor's family life and making it more believable, but that would lessen the drama a little and it wouldn't make her think as hard about what she wants to do, you know? Anyway, I'm going to do the best I can to post one more chapter before midnight tomorrow. I'm going to try and make one of my new year's resolutions write and update more...as well as the resolution of find a job and my usual resolution of get over an irrational childhood fear. I will finish off by saying that I hope everyone had happy holidays, got what you wanted for Hanukah and Christmas (I know I did) and also since it is the end of the year I hope everyone had happy birthdays this wonderful 2012! :P


	4. Chapter 4

So I know I said I would end up putting this chapter up New Year's Eve after I wrote chapter 26, but I didn't get a chance to. In my free time I've spent the last two and a half days reading over the whole story I have and attempting to write a chapter. I did start chapter 26 yesterday, but I wasn't able to finish it. I know it's going to end up being one of the chapters in this story I put up even though I'm not crazy about it. But luckily, chapter 4 is nothing like that and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. So enjoy everyone!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or 16 and Pregnant**

* * *

**Chapter Four **

_Before today I wouldn't have thought twice about my dad. I've always just taken them as they came and figured if I put up with it enough I could stay there until I graduated high school. But I don't want to wait until I graduate from high school to leave. I want to get out of there now. And there's only one place I can go. I can't go to Gabriella and burden her with this; I know I'd be a burden because if I change my mind about the baby then I can't have both of us barge in on Gabriella's and her mom's lives. Quite frankly, I don't want to burden Chad and his family either. He doesn't have the obligation I do for this child. He can choose to walk out and have nothing to do with us; act like we never happened. Like nothing ever happened. But whatever decision I'd make, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. Regardless of what I want now, I can't make a decision without consulting Chad. His answer today would dictate what I do for the rest of my life._

Taylor walked up to Chad's house. Just judging from the outside it was much bigger than hers; it had a porch and a larger yard. There was a nice picket fence around the sides protecting the backyard. Both Chad's house and Taylor's were two stories, but while Taylor's was long in length Chad's was wide in width. Taylor's house had enough to fit three people; it had a master bedroom and a smaller bedroom but Chad's house had three bedrooms in addition to the master bedroom, along with a spare room she'd never seen before. It was probably a storage room; they had an attic but it was more of a family room.

A house like Chad's would be perfect to raise a baby. It had plenty of space, clean rooms and most of all a close family that loved each other. Maybe telling Chad wouldn't be so bad. Statistics could be miscalculated; Chad could be one of those guys who'd be excited to have a baby and want it living with him. Maybe they really could work something out. Taylor liked to think it was possible. But she knew what she read; the chances of Chad wanting to be there was slim to none. But if she didn't tell him, that wouldn't help her decide what to do about the baby. Even worse, the longer she waited to tell Chad something this big the more likely he'd be to never trust her again. Taylor could already be risking this relationship for waiting weeks to tell him; it'd be even worse if she'd lost a friendship with him, too. It was a scary thought. But there was nothing else she could do about it. Gabriella was right; Chad was the dad and he deserved to know. Taylor lightly rubbed flat stomach and took a deep breath. She walked up the porch and hesitantly knocked on the door. Chad answered the door within seconds.

"Hey Tay," he smiled at her.

"Hi Chad," she responded while he let her in. She made certain to keep to herself as she walked past him. As he closed the door Chad took notice of Taylor's action and securely wrapped his arms around her. Taylor let out a sigh of relief and relaxed against his chest. "Thanks for letting me come here."

"It's no problem. You're always welcome here," he promised. "You had another fight with your dad?"

Yeah, a fight. That's what it was.

"Kind of," she half-lied.

Chad snuck a kiss onto her cheek. Taylor smiled and placed her hand over his. She wanted this moment to last as long as it could, knowing how soon Chad would know the truth. Chad went on to suggest, "How about we go relax in my room?"

His room. Full of silence and privacy. It could be the perfect place to tell him.

"Is…anyone else home?" she wondered.

"Just us," he answered.

It certainly sounded like the perfect time. She'd better do it while she still had the chance.

"Ok," she nodded.

Chad noticed a difference in her voice. "Is everything ok?"

"No, everything's fine. It's just…" Taylor paused to think of the right wording. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" he asked.

Taylor could already sense the worry in his voice. He had no idea what to expect, did he? Was he expecting bad news? Did he think he was going to break up with her? There was no way he could have a clue. Taylor bit her lower lip and wiggled out of Chad's grasp. She headed up to Chad's room with him following. Upon entering his room she sat at the edge of his bed and wrapped her arms around herself. She rubbed her arms as she attempted to figure out exactly how to tell him.

Chad closed the door behind him and sat next to Taylor. "Tay, what's up?"

"Not much, what's up with you?" she asked. Taylor was more nervous than she thought. So much so she was resorting to biting her nails. Chad took notice and gently grabbed her hand.

"Tay, talk to me," he said softly. He looked at her concerned for a minute, and then let out a breath. "What your friends said, you know, about you being anorexic…it's not true is it?"

"What?" Taylor gasped. She pulled her hand away. "How could you think something like that?"

"I don't know, you said you had something to tell me," he replied. "And you said it last week."

"Yeah, and I said it was something personal," she added.

"Anorexia sure is personal," he retorted.

"Do you seriously think I'm so insecure about my body that I would force myself to purge?" she questioned.

"Of course not."

"So why would you even suggest it?"

"Well I don't know what else it could be!"

"Why don't you try asking me instead of jumping to conclusions?"

"Ok, fine. Taylor what is it you wanna tell me?"

"I don't know, maybe that I'm pregnant you lunkhead!"

As soon as the statement left her mouth, Taylor's eyes widened. That was not how she wanted it to come out. Did she seriously just yell it to him? Over an argument? Taylor didn't even know what was making her sicker, the way she just told Chad that she was pregnant with his baby or the morning sickness. She barely had time to study Chad's expression. Sure she saw the typical reaction; wide eyed and jaw dropped. There wasn't too much else she could decipher aside from shock. Before she could get another word out, let alone give him a chance to talk she covered her mouth and ran to the garbage can, emptying out the contents of her stomach.

There was a silence from Chad. He was still in shock from the news, only able to watch his girlfriend in disbelief. There were no thoughts going on in his mind. All he could do was replay it over and over again: "I'm pregnant you lunkhead." The sentence was embedding itself into his brain. How was he supposed to respond to that? His mind slowly cleared and as it sunk in completely Chad was able to pay attention to the scene in front of him. There was his loving girlfriend, the one he'd gotten so close to and cared for so much, who was throwing up in his garbage. For a week her friends had accused her of being anorexic when she was really throwing up because she was pregnant. And it was because of him. Because not once, but twice, he was too stupid to use protection. What could he do? Sit back and watch her suffer?

Taylor was shocked moments later to feel his hands on her back, one gently rubbing her and the other moving hair away from her face. It made her feel better for the moment but she doubted it would last. It almost made her wish she could keep throwing up, just to keep him near her. But soon there was nothing left. Taylor emptied everything and slowly sat up. She rubbed her mouth and ran her fingers through her hair. She could still feel Chad's fingers caress her back but she knew it wouldn't last too much longer.

"You ok?" he asked softly, barely audible. He must have still been absorbing the news.

Taylor nodded. She wasn't particularly in the mood to say anything.

Chad tilted his head. "Tay, look at me?"

She shook her head. She didn't want to see his reaction.

Chad sighed. He helped her up and brought her to his bed. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his but she pulled it away. Chad reached over and held onto it, giving it a squeeze. It was the kind of gesture that was supposed to make Taylor feel better. It was normally the kind of thing Chad did that made her feel secured and loved. But she kept her back to him; she didn't so much as to want to glance at him. Chad let out another sigh, knowing that the next thing he said could make it or break it for him. For them.

"What are we gonna do?"

Taylor blinked, wondering if she misheard him. She cocked her head slightly, but still wouldn't meet his gaze. "What?"

Chad held his breath, under the impression he'd messed up already. He let out a deep breath before asking again. "What are we gonna do?"

So she had heard him right. He asked what they're going to do. Not her. Them. It took her a moment to digest his question before slowly turning to face him. Taylor was relieved to hear his response, knowing it wasn't a be-all-end-all. Chad was visibly nervous but he sounded calmer than he looked. He wasn't jumping to any conclusions, overreacting or jumping down her throat. He wasn't blaming her or telling her what to do. He asked what they were going to do. Taylor thought she had her answer; she thought especially after hearing Chad's reaction she was sure she'd know what to do. But after what happened with her father, actually sitting in front of Chad and hearing him, suddenly she wasn't so sure.

"I don't know," she whispered.

Chad contemplated his next question. "What are the options?"

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Adoption. Parenting. Abortion."

"Which are you thinking?" he asked.

Taylor opened her mouth, but nothing came out right away. She was about to say abortion. It was the quickest way out of it; it was the easiest way to get out of the situation. But it was also the hardest. Abortion would get rid of the baby but it would take a lot of courage to go through with it; and once she did it there'd be no taking it back. It also took a strong person to go through an adoption; no one wanted to give their child away but sometimes it was for the best. Taylor could never imagine doing that, no matter how hard it would be to raise it on her own. As for parenting, it could be the hardest or the most rewarding thing in the world. There would be jobs and juggling a baby with school, not to mention the worries about always having food on the table or a roof over their heads but then there would also be cute little hugs and someone there to love you no matter what and all the adorable things they do. And who wouldn't want to watch their son or daughter grow up?

"I don't know," she admitted quietly. "I mean, I thought I did. But…I'm not so sure…."

"Do you know what you don't wanna do?" he wondered.

"Adoption," she answered instantly. "I know it's selfish, but I don't want someone else raising my child. I can't carry someone around for nine months and develop a bond with it, only to give it away in the end. All that bonding would be for nothing."

"So…" Chad seemed hesitant to ask his next question, "…aborting it, or keeping it?"

Taylor shook her head and stood up. "I don't know. I thought about abortion. A lot, actually. But the more I think about it…" She trailed off before letting out a sigh. "I don't know."

Chad rubbed the back of his head. He looked down and then back at Taylor. He walked over to her and took her hand in his again. "Come with me," he said leading her out of his room. He took her across the hall and a door to the left. "I haven't been in here in a long time. My parents never like showing it to anyone." He opened the door and slowly led her in before turning on the light.

Taylor was shocked to find the contents of the room. This was the only room in the Danforth household she hadn't seen. It was dusty and there was some pastel colored dry paint peeling off the walls. Everything was covered in dust or cobwebs. The couch looked like it had barely been sat on. There wasn't a clean spot on the dresser or table. There were old toys that didn't look like they'd ever been played with. But the most shocking thing he to be the rusting crib in the corner or the room. Taylor took a few minutes to look around the room and take in her surroundings before looking back to Chad.

"What is…?"

"This was supposed to be the nursery for my baby brother. Or sister. We were a week away from finding out," he explained. He paused for a minute. He led Taylor over to the couch and they sat down. "The fetus, or whatever it's called I guess, we found out something was wrong with it. I don't remember what, but it wasn't good. My mom decided to get it aborted so it wouldn't have to be born suffering at all. It wasn't exactly a happy time for my family. But it brought us closer together. I mean, my dad still travels for his job a lot and all, but my brother got way more protective of me and my sister. Mom calls us more often to ask how we're doing when we go out and we're not so secretive with her. And my sister and I, well she doesn't remember it much, but before then we used to fight all the time. Now we're really close. Since then, I never wanna deal with an abortion again. I mean, if it's for the sake of the mom or baby I get it, cause sometimes a choice has to be made. And for anyone strong enough to go through it, like my mom was, I got a lot of respect for them. But me…. It was bad enough sorta dealing with it. I don't wanna go through it."

Taylor looked down. "I'm sorry, Chad," she said not sure what else to say.

"It's fine. I don't need pity for it or anything," he replied. "I just wanted you to know where I stood. That's all. I mean, if you wanna go through with it…. But I'd just rather you reconsider, you know?"

Taylor nodded. She couldn't imagine going through what Chad did. It sounded like a traumatizing experience. But in the wake of it, it was a blessing in disguise. She couldn't put Chad through it again. Come to think of it, it gave her a reason not to go through with it.

"I understand," she said.

"Does it help at all?" he wondered.

Taylor sighed. "I wish it did. But we don't have the resources to raise a baby right now. We need to graduate high school. We have to go to college so we can do what we want to do. And to juggle school, jobs and a baby…how are we supposed to handle that? A baby isn't anything like school, Chad. It doesn't come with a manual. There's no logical equation to take care of it, no way of knowing what it wants. It's all…instincts. It's impossible to think anything through. We just act on what we think is best and if we don't do anything then it's pretty much over. If we do the slightest thing wrong then police can get involved. And if we can't do it on our own we'd have to go on welfare. Or live on the streets. No baby deserves any of that."

"But we have a place to stay," Chad said. "Your house and mine."

"With my dad and I? My house is hardly ideal for a baby," Taylor answered.

"So we can set up the nursery. Make it all new," Chad suggested.

"What are you saying?" she asked. She made it obvious that she was unsure and that she was uncomfortable.

Chad caught onto her discomfort. "I mean it's your choice, Tay. I can't make you decide. But if you decide to keep it, you're always welcome here. The baby can always have a home here."

There it was. Her choice. Not their choice. Her choice. Suddenly she felt even worse about telling him. It was a mistake coming here. She should have known better. She shook her head and got up, "I should go."

"Tay, wait," Chad tried to stop her but Taylor was already out of the room. Chad got up and followed her. "Tay, c'mon…"

Taylor turned to him and shook her head. "There's nothing left to say, Chad. You made your point perfectly clear."

"So you know I'm here, right?" he asked.

Taylor looked at him confused. When did he mention that part? "What?"

"You know that I'm here, right?" he repeated.

* * *

A bit of a corny ending, I know. I couldn't figure out the right point to end it at but I just wanted Chad to get the point across that he's not running away, so hopefully that came through. I wish I could say i remembered what i was thinking when creating Chad's family's backstory but I really can't. I think it was just an idea I had that fell into place or something. I wish I could figure out what else to say about this chapter, but I really can't. But like I said, I now have 26 chapters written and unlike chapter 26 I actually have an idea of what to write for chapter 27. So, I'm still sick, still looking for a job and still trying to sell artwork which also means making more artwork. So I think the current plan is to focus on this story, since a decent portion of it is already written (though I'm still trying to figure out how far it should go). I do have the unseen HSM scenes I want to continue as well as Princess and the Frog, so for anyone still waiting on those I appreciate your patience. I do hope that this year I will write more updates than last, and it will be a better year for writing. So I will shut up now and let you all move on. But before you go I would just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2013 isn't as unlucky as it sounds and will bring you lots of happiness and awesomeness! :)


	5. Chapter 5

So, not sure if I updated in a week like I said I would last chapter...i think i actually lost count of the days. Yeah, it's bad. But I also really wanted to get another chapter written and I'm proud to say I did! So now I give you chapter five!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, 16 and Pregnant, or anything else that may or may not be associated with this story somehow.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_I wish I could say everything went fine with Chad. I want to say that we worked everything out and we have a plan. That nothing's changed between us. But I can't sit here and lie. Chad and I have been awkward. He's been trying to text me multiple times a day but I've gone back to avoiding him. Conversing with him hasn't made my decision any easier. He may have made his decision perfectly clear, but it's not his choice. It's mine._

"Tay, there you are," Chad sighed with relief. He ran over to her locker.

Taylor, on the other hand, didn't look so thrilled to see him. "Chad I don't want to talk right now," she said. She started taking her books out quicker.

"I just wanna make sure you're ok," he said. "You've been avoiding me ever since our talk. Was it something I said?"

"Nothing," she answered quickly. She slammed her locker and tried to leave as quickly as possible. "I have to go."

"Taylor wait!" Chad tried to catch up to her but the halls filled with students too fast. Before Chad knew it Taylor was out of sight and out of earshot. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It was only a few days since their discussion at his house, but with the way she was avoiding him it felt more like a few weeks. He thought he made his stance on the subject of the baby perfectly clear – that he didn't want her to get an abortion but no matter what choice she made he'd stand by her. Ever since then he'd been texting her every chance he got to see how she was feeling. But Taylor didn't reply to a single one of his messages. Chad leaned up against the locker, exasperated. What was he doing wrong?

"Is everything ok?"

Chad nearly jumped. He turned to see Gabriella. "Oh, it's just you Gabs," he sighed with relief.

"Is everything ok?" she wondered.

"Just…stuff with Taylor." He hesitated to tell her; he was sure Taylor and Gabriella had no secrets from each other but on the off chance that Taylor didn't tell her anything, Chad didn't want to blab anything.

"Did she tell you?" Gabriella inquired.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Did she tell me…?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, "About the thing?"

"The thing…?" Chad had no idea what he was supposed to catch on to.

Gabriella paused, taking a moment to choose her next words carefully. "About her not feeling well?"

Chad's body loosened. "Yeah, she did," he nodded. "I should have known she already told you."

"I'm her best friend, Chad. Of course she'd tell me," Gabriella reminded him. She tilted her head and looked at him concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Chad gave a nod. "Talking might help."

"Come on, I know where we can go," she offered. Gabriella led Chad down the hallway until they came to a door on their left. Gabriella opened it and Chad followed her upstairs. The staircase eventually led to the roof. There was a small sitting area by the staircase with an awning on it and numerous flowerpots surrounding it. Chad looked around, but Gabriella sat down right away; the area seemed all too familiar to her. "This is where Troy and I come all the time. I know it's just a spot for me and him, but at least up here no one will find us. So we can talk in privacy."

"So this is where you guys spend all your time," Chad said.

"Just don't get too used to coming up here," she said with a giggle. "You and Taylor have to find your own spot."

"If she ever talks to me again," Chad sighed. He sat down beside Gabriella and placed his head in his hands.

"What did you tell her?" she inquired.

"I told her what I thought," he answered.

"So…do you agree with what she wants to do?" Gabriella wondered.

"Not really," he admitted. "But it doesn't mean I feel any different about her, you know?"

"You still love her and want to be a family," she realized.

Chad nodded. "But she doesn't want the same thing."

Gabriella took notice of his response. "You look so calm about it," she observed.

"Yeah, but I'm as nervous as heck," Chad said. "But I gotta be calm, don't I? So she doesn't worry."

"Maybe Taylor feels the same way," she suggested. "Everyday she has to put on this face, acting like nothing's happening. But inside she's conflicted over what to do. And she can't let anyone know because it'd ruin her reputation. People would look at her differently and she could get treated differently. Not just by the school, but by the people she cares about."

"I guess I can understand it. I mean, kinda," he said. "But I just wish she'd tell me more of this stuff. Maybe then I'd understand better."

"There's just some things Taylor doesn't feel comfortable talking about, I suppose. Everyone has things they'd rather keep to themselves," Gabriella said.

"What has she told you?" Chad asked.

"The same things she told you, I'd guess," she answered. "Taylor's been putting up an argument about getting an abortion instead of parenting."

"What do you think about it?" he asked.

Gabriella shook her head, "It's not my place to say. I already told her what I thought about it, honestly. But that doesn't mean she thinks the same things I do or that she's going to change her mind."

"So what can you tell me?" Chad asked.

"I really don't feel comfortable telling you things Taylor should be saying," Gabriella admitted.

Chad sighed. Gabriella wasn't making this any easier. He knew her heart was in the right place and she was just being a good friend, but right now Chad needed help. It was hard enough finding out that his girlfriend was pregnant. It was even harder to know that she was considering aborting it. But the worst part of it was that Chad had no idea what to do. He didn't know how he could help. He already told her what he thought and he said he was there to help; what else was there he could do? Buy baby supplies? No, that wouldn't work; that could just be too pushy. Maybe he should start by getting a job. But then what?

"Chad?"

Chad snapped out of his thoughts and looked to Gabriella. "Huh? What?"

"You were zoning out. Is everything ok?" she asked.

"No, Gabs, nothing is ok," he answered bluntly. "Taylor's pregnant. She wants to get rid of the baby. She won't talk to me, let alone look at me. How am I supposed to know how to help or support her if she doesn't tell me anything?"

"Maybe you should just-" she started only to have Chad cut her off.

"Has she even made a doctor's appointment yet?"

"Well…. No," Gabriella confessed uneasily.

"Why not?" he asked. "Isn't that something pregnant people are supposed to do?"

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe she's worried that if she makes an appointment she'll get attached. Think about it; if she's leaning towards getting rid of it then developing a bond with it will only make it harder."

"She's so stubborn," Chad muttered.

"Well so are you. That's why you make such a great couple," Gabriella said.

"Huh?" Chad raised an eyebrow from confusion.

"You and Taylor are both extremely stubborn. You know what makes the other tick," she explained. "There's nothing the two of you can hide from each other for long. Sure, it causes more arguments between you. But it's those arguments that bring you closer."

"I don't get it," he said.

"You two may not be getting along right now and you'll probably have a lot more arguments in the future, but it's not going to last. Give it time," she said simply.

"You make it sound so easy," Chad said.

"That's because it is easy," she told him.

Chad didn't quite understand how easy it was supposed to be, but he decided to take Gabriella's word for it. Sometimes the best thing to do was to seek advice from someone on the outside looking in. After talking to Gabriella and taking matters into his own hands, Chad felt more comfortable talking to Taylor. He was still as nervous as any guy could be and he was unsure if she would want to talk to him at all, but it was worth a try. So when the bell rang after final period, Chad made sure to get to Taylor's locker as quickly as possible. He leaned up against the metal door and stood there waiting for her. And while Chad was perfectly ready to talk, Taylor could hardly say the same. Even when she saw Chad waiting for her she still refused to make eye contact.

"What are you doing here?"

"I gotta get you to talk somehow," Chad admitted.

"Chad, now's not the time," Taylor responded. "Now can I please get to my locker? You're blocking the way."

This was going to be harder than Chad thought. Maybe the direct approach would be best. "Why haven't you made a doctor's appointment?"

Taylor immediately shushed him. "Not so loud, do you want people to hear?" she scolded.

"Not particularly, but if it's the only way to get your attention," he answered.

"Chad, I don't have time for this. I have a Decathlon meeting to get to. If I'm late again…" she continued to avoid the subject. Taylor tried to get around him to her locker but Chad kept blocking the way.

"Five minutes then," he said.

"Chad," she sighed.

"Five minutes," he repeated. "You don't even have to talk if you don't want to. Just let me talk. Please?"

"I really don't want to hear anything right now," she said.

"Taylor, please," he insisted.

Taylor groaned. "If I say yes will you let me get my books and let me go to my meeting after exactly five minutes?"

"Yes, I promise," Chad nodded.

"Fine," she gave in.

Chad stepped aside and let Taylor take out her books. Once that was done they navigated through the crowded halls in attempt to find a private enough place to talk. Chad had a pretty good idea of where to go; he led Taylor in the same direction Gabriella had taken him earlier. They ascended the staircase down the hall up to the rooftop garden – only to find Gabriella and her boyfriend Troy comfortably making out on the bench. Chad and Taylor quickly ran back down the staircase until they were at the bottom just beyond the door.

"Ok, I guess we can't go up there," Chad said quickly. "Do you think they saw us?"

"I hope not," she replied. "I'm going to have a hard time seeing Gabriella be so innocent now."

"Yeah, that'll be awkward," Chad rubbed his head. But at least now they had an icebreaker. Chad paused for a minute before sitting on one of the steps. He invited Taylor to sit next to him. She hesitated before taking a seat and placing her books beside her.

"Look, Chad, if this is about my making a decision-" she started.

"It's not," he shook his head. "I'm not gonna pressure you to make one or anything. But I just wanna let you know that I'm not going anywhere."

"That's not exactly helping," she said.

"Then maybe this will," Chad replied. "I talked to Ryan. His parents have some openings at the country club. He said he's gonna try and help me get a job there. I know it won't be a ton of money and I know we may not need it, but I'm not just gonna sit back and do nothing. And you won't tell me what I can do to help so right now this is the best I can figure out."

She scrunched her nose, "How can I tell you how to help if I don't even know what to do?"

"Do you know how far along you are?" he asked.

"Two months, maybe?" she guessed.

"Isn't there a time constraint on aborting it or something?" Chad wondered.

"Probably soon," she answered. "Late-term abortions are only used in medical emergencies."

"Then shouldn't you make an appointment to know how far along you are for sure?" he replied.

"But if I know what I'm doing then why do I need an appointment?" Taylor questioned.

"If you know what you're doing then why aren't you calling a clinic for it?" he retorted.

Taylor opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. Chad took that as her saying she had no answer. That could only mean she was still on the fence. In a way Chad felt relieved to know that but on the other hand anything could still happen. He then took notice of Taylor biting her nails again. For someone who was so against talking, Taylor was sure saying more than she intended on. Chad gently took her hand in hers and pulled it away from her mouth. It got her to look in his direction and stop biting, but she didn't seem anymore comfortable. Chad wished he knew what to say to her. He wanted to be able to say something and make it better, to make her feel more at ease. But what was a guy supposed to say at a time like this? Maybe there was really only one thing he could say – what he thought she was saying.

"You're keeping it, aren't you?"

Taylor opened her mouth again but she couldn't seem to conjure up a response. It was a difficult thing to do, to render Taylor speechless. But just as Gabriella said, Chad knew exactly what to say to her. And it would be things like that, that brought them closer together. Taylor looked down, still at a loss for words. What she then saw was Chad gently caressing her hand. She hesitated, her body still stiff. She then slowly moved her hand, but rather then pushing Chad away from her, she rested it over his hand and gripped it tightly. At a time like this there didn't seem to be anymore words to say; only actions. And Chad lifted her hand to his lips and placed a light kiss on them.

"What are you guys doing down here?"

The moment was broken when the two turned around to see Troy and Gabriella. They were stopped in the middle of the staircase staring at their two friends. Gabriella raised an eyebrow curiously but didn't seem to question what was going on. Troy, on the other hand, seemed very lost. The best answer that Chad or Taylor could have given was that they were just talking or trying to work things out; that everything was fine. But instead of giving the simplest answer Chad blurt out the most awkward one.

"We didn't see you guys making out!"

* * *

I think this was one of the chapters I enjoyed writing. As much as I don't like Gabriella (just please don't ask me if I dislike her or Sharpay more!) i find it somewhat entertaining to write her and Chad as friends and see how they react around each other. Cause it's like, their best friends are dating their...uh...dater...person... You know what I mean. It's just an interesting thing to see the relationship and, in a way, how Chad extends his brother-ness from Troy to Gabriella. You know what I mean? Obviously though, the end was the best part to write. Who doesn't like a chapter ending on a funny level? :P So now, I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be uploaded. I now have 27 chapters written so i think it is far enough along that even before I write chapter 28 I can post another one, but we'll see. It depends how crazy it gets here. I am still looking for jobs, and my friends who are still in school or in grad school aren't in school now so I do want to spend more time with them. The other thing is, I'm still working on trying to sell my text portraits - I even finished the Stay Strong portrait I've been working on which I hope to donate the money from to Newtown once someone actually does buy it - but the point is, even if I'm not doing a good job of selling my portraits it is still a way to keep busy and attempt to make money and it is something I put a lot of time and effort into. I know it's nothing like school and saying how crazy classes and homework are and that it's taking over my life, but it is important to me and I do hope you guys understand that. As far as my other fanfics go, I do have every intention of updating them but it's a matter of when and especially when I get past writer's block. Last time I tried to updated Deleted Scenes version 2 i did not get far at all. Seriously, i'm having the most luck with 16 and Pregnant right now. Anyway, thank you for reading and especially if you have the patience to read through my long author's notes and hear about my boring otherwise uneventful life thank you. xD I wish you all a happy weekend in advanced and to those of you who are still on break, enjoy and relax while you can! :)


	6. Chapter 6

So I can't exactly say too much has been going on here. I think this past weekend or earlier this week I started working on the next chapter, and I stopped because I had stuff to do, which really sucked cause that night I had a great idea of where I wanted the chapter and had everything planned, and of course by morning I forgot it all. I got some work on it done today when I was waiting for my grandma at her usual doctor's appointment, so I figured since like half a chapter's write it makes sense to post chapter six. So enjoy!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_It's funny at how easy it is to go back and forth between two choices but it's even harder to actually pick one. It's nearing a month now that I've found out and just when I think I've made my decision I'm back on the fence. I keep weighing the pro's and con's of abortion versus parenting. I tell myself that whichever side has more pro's will be the right side to pick. The pro's and con's of parenting are easy – the pro's are the unconditional love and all the rewards that a child gives and the con's are the money, finishing school and getting a job, and finalizing living situations. You'd think that the con's outweigh the pro's but then again you can't put a price on love. And then I try to list the pro's and con's of abortion. I can't. Abortion is so different for everyone that it's hard to know how I'd feel after going through with it or if I'll regret it. I've got an ultrasound scheduled for Saturday morning; Chad and Gabriella have both offered to go. They're hoping that once I see my baby on the screen I'll make the decision easily. But I'm not so sure I will._

Friday brought mixed feelings for Taylor. It was another day of minimal morning sickness, which she was thankful for. It made it that much easier to concentrate on her chemistry exam and to stop by a quick meeting with the student council. Taylor however had yet to tell the student body that she may concede the election for senior year; but she was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she questioned if she'd have enough time for it. The down side to Friday came when she met Chad at the end of free period. They came to an agreement the other day that she did need to make an appointment for an ultrasound. They had one available first thing the next morning, which Chad seemed grateful for. Taylor, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic. After that, she had a hard time concentrating on the rest of her classes and on the Decathlon meeting. Monday after school would be their first official competition and Taylor knew she had to be prepared.

She met up with Chad after practice and the two of them walked home together. Chad brought up the usual questions of how she was feeling and if there was anything he could do. Taylor was growing accustomed to it and she had to admit, she liked how attentive Chad was being. Not that he wasn't attentive before, but it was to more than just her. He appeared and sounded naturally concerned about both Taylor and the baby. Of course he let a few questions accidentally slip out, like about when the baby would be due; Taylor paid no attention to them and answered simply before saying they should get past the ultrasound first. That's when she became more nervous.

"So what do we do after the ultrasound?" Chad wondered.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked.

"Well, we'd tell out parents…wouldn't we?" he replied.

Taylor shuddered to think about telling her dad. He already gave her hell for no reason; she could imagine it getting so much worse telling him she was pregnant and keeping the baby. It was because of her father that Taylor had toyed back and forth so much with abortion versus parenting. She couldn't say the same for Chad's parents, though; they were nice enough and Taylor almost felt more comfortable telling them than her own dad. But they could always surprise her and say they couldn't raise a baby. Taylor decided to remain quiet about the issue.

"Tay?" Chad asked.

She shook her head. "I really don't want to think about that right now. Can we talk about something else?"

"I'm just saying, they'll need to know," Chad said.

"Chad, just drop it, please," she insisted.

"But we need to figure it out," he replied.

Taylor groaned. "Chad, you need to shut your mouth. You have no idea what I'm going through or how hard this is. Now can you please drop the subject and get through the damn ultrasound tomorrow before we decide anything?" she snapped.

They both stopped in their tracks. Chad was shocked to hear Taylor that angry and Taylor knew right away she was too hard on him. The mood swings must have kicked in quicker than she thought. Taylor mentally scolded herself and hit her head. She bit her lip and turned Chad to face her, hoping to explain her outburst in a calmer manner.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," she apologized. "I'm nervous, ok? We're probably going to be parents at sixteen in less than nine months and there's already so many things we need to figure out. I just want to take it one step at a time and not jump into every little issue at once. I just want to get through the ultrasound and take it from there."

"I get it, Tay. I'm scared, too," Chad admitted. "But I'd just rather figure everything out ahead of time. Especially with our parents. I wanna know their reactions sooner than later so we know what to do from there."

"I understand. It's just that, I've never seen you plan ahead before. You've always been take-it-as-it-comes," she said.

Chad shrugged his shoulders. "I've got someone who needs me to think ahead." He gently placed a hand on her flat stomach, "Two someone's."

Taylor smiled and rested her head on his chest. This wasn't an easy situation for either of them, but at least Chad was trying. And he never once ceased to amaze her with his words and little gestures. The two of them continued on in a comfortable silence hand in hand until they reached Taylor's house. And although she still had reservations about going inside, she left Chad to continue on his way home and she stepped into the house as quietly and cautiously as possible.

But the next thing Taylor knew, she was waking up to Chad.

"She's up," Chad sighed with relief.

"She is?" Gabriella called. She rushed into the living room to be by their sides. "Oh thank goodness! Taylor are you alright?"

Taylor sat up and rubbed her head, though Chad encouraged her to stay lying down. "W…what happened?"

"You tell us," Chad replied. "We came in and saw you on the couch out cold."

Gabriella gasped and moved Taylor's hand out of the way. "And where did _that _come from?"

"Where did what come from?" she asked, still coming to.

"That bruise on your cheek," Gabriella answered worriedly.

"Tay what happened?" Chad asked, growing more concerned.

Taylor's eyes widened. There was a bruise on her cheek? She came home from school and was suddenly waking up the next morning? That could have only meant her dad was home last night. Her memory was still fuzzy, but Taylor was able to recall a few details. She remembered saying goodnight to Chad before walking inside. Suddenly her cheek was bursting with pain and when Taylor rubbed it the first thing she saw was her father. He started yelling at her for getting home so late even though it was barely dinnertime. Taylor either did a bad job explaining or her father just wasn't taking her answers and he must have knocked her to the floor. Or hit her head or something. But it didn't explain why she was taking up on the couch. Did he move her there so no one would get suspicious?

Wait a minute…. He hit her again! Taylor's breath got caught in her throat and she instinctively moved her hand to her stomach. He didn't hit her there, did he? What if something happened to the baby?

"Tay."

Taylor snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Chad's voice. His arms were around her, more protectively this time.

"What happened? Are you ok?" he asked worriedly.

Taylor couldn't bring herself to tell Chad what was going on with her father. She didn't want him worrying about her all the time. Especially when they had bigger things to worry about now. And there was no way in heck she was going to tell Gabriella; the poor girl looked horrified seeing her friend like this and if she knew about the fights between Taylor and her dad then it would just kill her.

"I'm fine," Taylor lied. "I just…hit my head. And then I fell asleep on the couch last night."

"I'll go get an icepack," Gabriella said before running into the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Chad asked.

Taylor hesitated, but nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Chad seemed doubtful but even he could tell that this wasn't something to keep questioning her about. He let out a sigh. "As long as you're ok and the baby's ok, that's all that matters."

Right. The baby. God, Taylor hoped it was all right.

"Here, put this on the bruise," Gabriella said returning. "It'll help with the swelling."

"Thanks," Taylor replied softly. She took the icepack and rested it on her cheek.

"The appointment's in an hour. Do you want to eat anything before we go?" Gabriella asked.

"I'm not really hungry," she lied. Truth was, Taylor didn't feel like eating when she was so worried.

"You should eat something," Chad said. "Maybe a pop tart?"

Taylor didn't want to think about eating. She wanted to get to the doctor's as soon as possible so she'd know for sure nothing was wrong. But maybe there was nothing to worry about; she could be overreacting. She wished that if she could have an answer about anything, it would be about the baby. Taylor knew for sure that no matter how far along it was she couldn't risk it getting hurt because of her problems. But it was in her body so she was meant to protect it. Taylor had never been so confused. And as much as she wanted to say that Chad and Gabriella were helping her, they weren't. Right now they were only making her more worried.

Despite that, Taylor agreed to eat something. She munched on half a cherry pop tart and then changed outfits before leaving for the doctor's appointment. It wasn't long after they arrived that Taylor was called in. She and Gabriella sat down while Chad took the opportunity to wander around the room.

"Man they sure have a lot of instruments here," he observed.

"Chad please don't play with anything," Taylor told him. She was already nervous; the last thing she wanted was for Chad to get them in trouble.

"I won't," he said defensively.

"Try looking at the posters instead of the instruments," Gabriella suggested. She pointed to the poster on the wall adjacent to her. "Look, here's one depicting the growth of a baby."

Chad glanced at the poster. He scrunched his nose, "So that's what they mean when they say the tadpole swims up the river."

"Well we did learn it in sixth grade," Gabriella giggled. "The analogy seemed pretty clear."

Taylor raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Didn't you and your dad talk about these things after that class?"

Chad shook his head, "My dad is always away on business. And ever since…" He caught himself and stopped talking. The conversation was one thing to bring up with Taylor, but it wasn't exactly something Gabriella needed to know. "…Ever since that thing, my brother and sister and I got closer but my dad traveled more. And it wasn't like my brother helped explain it any better."

"What was his idea of the talk?" Gabriella wondered.

"Showing a video of_ how_ babies happen," Chad squirmed.

The girls shivered.

"So…where do you think you are on this poster?" Gabriella attempted to change the subject.

Taylor pointed to the eight-week mark, "Around there, I think. It can't be too much more than two months."

"That's what we're here to find out."

The three turned towards the door. They saw a young women walk in, probably no more than ten years their senior. She had a lab coat and glasses on and her long brown hair was coated with lavender highlights.

"Good morning, I'm Doctor Winters. You must be Taylor," she introduced herself.

Taylor nodded and shook the doctor's hand. "Yeah," she nodded. "And this is my best friend Gabriella and my boyfriend Chad."

"Nice to meet you all," Dr. Winters greeted. She shook each of their hands but took a minute to study Chad. "Is that your real hair?"

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Is that yours?" he responded.

The doctor paused for a moment and then let out a laugh. "I like your boyfriend."

Taylor blushed. "I think I'll keep him."

"You think? Gee, thanks," Chad joked. He stood behind the examination table and held Taylor's hand.

"And you're also the daddy?" the doctor inquired while she put on her gloves and set up the screen.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Chad replied.

Dr. Winters raised her hands defensively. "Just checking. So this is your first pregnancy then?"

Taylor nodded.

"And you're sixteen?" she asked.

Taylor nodded again, almost shamefully. "Yes," she answered quietly.

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've seen a pregnant teenager in here," she assured Taylor. "Plenty of girls have unplanned oopsy's."

"Surprises," Gabriella corrected immediately.

The three looked at her in confusion.

"Well they are surprises," Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "And anyway, it's horrible to call a baby an 'oopsy'."

"You're right. My mistake," Dr. Winters nodded in acknowledgement.

While the doctor resumed gathering supplies together, Chad took notice of Taylor's uneasiness. He leaned forward so his eyes could meet hers. "You ok?" he whispered.

Why would I be ok, was what Taylor wanted to say. She didn't like being questioned about being a young mother and she especially felt insulted that the doctor assumed she'd already been a mother. Taylor wasn't comfortable at all being in this examination room.

"Not really," she responded. She attempted to defer the conversation away from her. "What if something's wrong? Or people think I'm some kind of…sl*t?"

Taylor hated that word. Sl*t. Sl*ts were girls who slept around and didn't care. That was how a lot of teen girls got pregnant, wasn't it? Or they gave into guys too easily? Taylor was surprised that with all the women her father had brought home and the way he was around her, that she didn't turn into a sl*t herself.

Chad adjusted himself so he was in front of her but still holding her hand. "Hey," he whispered, "that's not true and you know it. Being with one person doesn't make you a sl*t or wh*re. It makes a guy lucky to have you."

"I know," she nodded.

"And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks," he added. "All that matters is Gabriella and I know you. And we love you for it. And we're gonna love this baby just as much and we're gonna make sure nothing happens to it."

Taylor wished she could say that Chad's words made her feel better. But no matter how loving and sincere he sounded or how mushy he made her feel inside it didn't seem to change anything. "I'm scared," she admitted softly.

"I'm scared, too," he said. "But we can be scared together." He then pressed his lips against hers in a soft yet passionate kiss.

Taylor's heart skipped a beat and she returned the kiss, digging her hand into his hair. She could tell in his voice that he was scared; but Chad was trying so hard to not act like it. He was always asking about her and making sure she was feeling ok and saying and doing things to make her feel better. Taylor wasn't sure how she understood but somehow she knew that Chad was putting all his energy into her so he could stop worrying and being so afraid. Even though she could feel in his chest against hers his heart pounding more rapidly every second, she felt just as much love or maybe even more in their kiss.

That's what this was all about, wasn't it? When two people loved each other they hugged and kissed and…made babies. The little person inside of her was a symbol of her and Chad's love. Taylor knew she could have gone down a dark road because of her family problems; she knew she could have ended up skipping school and sleeping on the streets or being with any man that would give her the time of day. But she didn't. She found someone who loved her for her. Suddenly it didn't matter how scared she was of her dad finding out or the baby getting hurt. Taylor thought she could do right by aborting the baby so there wouldn't be the risk of it getting hurt or being born into a world suffering. Getting rid of it meant getting rid of a piece of them, a piece of the love she and Chad shared. It didn't matter what the pro's and con's were of parenting or aborting anymore. All that mattered was Taylor bringing her baby into the world so she could give it all the love that Chad gave her. And all the love she knew she could give.

* * *

So in this chapter we return to seeing things from more of Taylor's point of view. I had mixed feelings about this chapter when I was writing it because I wasn't sure if I should actually narrate anything happening between Taylor and her dad or if I should show the full appointment or even how it should end. I think one reason I cut the appointment short was because, although in the beginning I did say I would most likely screw up some medical stuff even though I don't want that to be a main focus, I don't know how a first sonogram is exactly supposed to go or what's supposed to happen aside from meeting the doctor. I'm sure it's an extremely special moment for the expecting mother and the family and it was something I didn't want to miswrite or screw up with. As far as writing and future updates go, I can't say anything for sure. I do still have to look for jobs and I am still trying to sell artwork. My issue with my artwork, however, is that I've been distracted, lazy and I just feel like I can't focus on it long enough. And that kinda sucks cause I still have to finish a picture for Sandy Hook and try to get that sold to donate monies. So by next week I'm going to try and find some inspiration, buckle down and get some work done. And if I can get a brainstorm for chapter 28 back then that'd be awesome and it would mean posting chapter seven with no questions asked. xD So I will leave you all with this now and wish you a happy weekend in advanced! :)


	7. Chapter 7

So I'm proud to say I finished typing up another chapter, at long last, and especially since I was so happy to get a review from chapter six I decided to post the next chapter! Everyone who's still reading, enjoy!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or 16 and Pregnant...those belong to Disney and MTV.**

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**Chapter Seven **

_I found out I'm a little over three months along. Thirteen weeks. I'm a month further than I thought I was. That means the baby was conceived in October and we have until June or July to prepare for it. These are not going to be a fun six months. Chad's still waiting to hear back from Ryan about a potential job at Lava Springs. And Gabriella's even more excited about the baby than I am. I caught her gawking at the baby clothes last time we were in Target. And she's been reading pregnancy calendars. Apparently around five months we'll find out if it's a boy or girl. I'm amazed she hasn't asked about names yet._

"So did you come up with any names yet?"

"Gabriella," Taylor moaned.

"Well did you?" she wondered.

"I'm trying to focus on something a little more important. AP US History," Taylor responded.

"You're more worried about studying for a test next week than about your own baby?" Gabriella questioned.

"Why are you so excited about this, anyway?" Taylor asked. "Ever since you found out I'm keeping it, it's all you want to talk about."

"Maybe because I'm going to be an auntie," she answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "It's exciting stuff, Tay!"

"Would you rather be the one pregnant at sixteen?" Taylor questioned.

"Not really," she admitted.

"My point exactly," she said.

"Can't you at least be a little happy?" Gabriella inquired. "You're going to have a mini you running around!"

"It's hard to be happy about it when there's so much to do," she answered. "I have to get through junior year, I'm going to be jugging school with a baby next year, not to mention applying for colleges and looking at campuses, I have to look for a job, buy all the baby supplies…. It's a lot to handle."

"Have you thought about fast-tracking?" Gabriella wondered.

"Briefly," she admitted, "but we're already in the middle of the year. To get through the rest of junior year and all of senior year in six months adds a lot of pressure and takes away time from looking for jobs or buying the necessities."

"What about online classes?" she suggested. "That way next year you could stay home with the baby and still finish school?"

"It wouldn't be the same," she shook her head. "I've read things teen moms have posted online and most of them who took online classes said they resented their boyfriend for getting to leave the house and live a portion of a normal life."

"Have you talked to Chad about online classes?" Gabriella asked.

"And ask him to give up basketball?" Taylor gasped.

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "He wouldn't be giving it up for good, he just wouldn't be able to play next year. Maybe. And anyway, could it hurt just to ask?"

"College is expensive, Gabs. I need a scholarship to even be able to go. And Chad's best chance is a basketball scholarship; he can do what he loves that way. I couldn't ask him to give up his dream," Taylor explained.

"Maybe you won't have to," she said.

"Gabriella, can we please just focus on homework?" Taylor asked. She returned to flipping through her textbook and writing notes, but Gabriella just raised an eyebrow and stared at her.

"Why are you so on edge about this?" she asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she denied.

"You still look like you're going back and forth," Gabriella observed.

"It's not that."

"Then what is?"

"Nothing."

"It seems like more than nothing."

"Oh my God Gabriella, can you please just drop it already?"

Gabriella stared at her friend wide-eyed. She didn't expect Taylor to snap at her like that. As a matter of fact, Taylor didn't expect to snap. Having realized her mood swings got the better of her again, Taylor sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

Gabriella looked down. "I just want to help you, Taylor. But if you want me to butt out, I will," she said softly.

"It's not that," Taylor shook her head. "It's just that you seem so excited about this and I can't understand why."

"And I can't understand why you can't be happy in the slightest bit about this," she responded. "You have a guy that wants to stick around. You're going to finish school and you want to go to college. You and Chad love each other. Why is it so hard for you to look on the bright side and accept that maybe, just maybe, everything can work out?"

Taylor looked at her friend seriously. "Do you know what type of girls get pregnant this young? Girls who have a strained relationship with one or both of their parents. Girls who look anywhere to get love and attention because they never felt it and they crave it. Girls who don't think about the consequences of what they do. I'm just one of those girls, Gabriella. If I fall into a statistic like that, what does that say about all the other statistics of teen pregnancies?"

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Taylor in a sisterly, loving hug. "That the statistics are full of bull," she answered. "You look at everything like a math equation without taking anything else into consideration. Like peoples' feelings. Or what you want to do. Did you ever stop to think that maybe all those numbers you're thinking of have nothing to do with you? And that this was just a happy accident? Or maybe it happened for a reason?"

Taylor and Gabriella had a strange relationship. They were the best of friends and acted more like sisters than anything else. But it was always Taylor that acted like the older sister. Gabriella was the innocent one and Taylor had to look out for her. But Taylor often underestimated that because of that relationship they had that Gabriella was so much smarter and observant. As much as Taylor would try to hide her feelings, Gabriella could always see through them. She had this innocence and naivety about her that made Taylor see things in a different light. When that happened it was as if their roles had switched and Gabriella was the older sister.

Taylor brushed some hair away from her face and forced a smile. "You're going to spoil this baby rotten, aren't you?" she giggled a little.

"Hell, yes," Gabriella laughed. "Now how about we finish this homework so we can talk baby names?" She pulled away and retreated to her side of the bed, scooping up notes and beginning to flip through them.

While Gabriella did that, Taylor pulled out her cell phone. "I might have to take a rein check on that," she said after reading a text message.

Gabriella glanced up and saw Taylor typing on her phone. "Who's it from?"

"Chad. He wants to meet me for dinner," she answered.

"Well then, go and have fun," Gabriella said with a smile. "Maybe he can knock some sense into you."

"We'll see about that," Taylor replied. She gathered her books together and said good-bye to Gabriella before leaving. Luckily the restaurant Chad wanted to meet her at wasn't too far away. She was there within a half hour. Once arriving at the restaurant, Taylor met Chad at the table he saved for them. She set her books down next to the empty chair and exchanged a hug with Chad before sitting.

"How was the walk?" Chad wondered.

"It wasn't that bad," Taylor shook her head. "Apparently my feet could get swollen as the pregnancy progresses so I might as well enjoy the exercise while I can."

"Is there anything you haven't studied?" Chad asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually Gabriella's been doing all the baby research," Taylor said.

"Dang, she's more excited than us," Chad said.

"That's what I said," she agreed.

Chad picked up his menu, "Well once I find out if I got the job at Lava Springs I'm gonna have to start saving up for a car."

"I think a car will be the least of our worries," she pointed out.

"Maybe when we tell my mom she can give us some advice," Chad suggested.

"Can we not talk about that now?" Taylor asked. One of the last things she wanted to think about was telling Chad's family. She already knew she wasn't going to tell her own father. Not like she had anything to lose by telling him, of course. But Chad's family liked her. They practically welcomed her in with open arms and treated her like one of them. And as far as Taylor was considered, they were the closest things to family she had. So she was scared to think about how they'd react to the news, if they'd treat her any differently or maybe even affect Chad's decision to stick around. Worrying about what people at school thought was nothing compared to Chad's family. They supported her before and she wanted that to continue.

Before Chad could respond the waiter arrived to take their order. Normally when they went out to dinner Chad was the one to order a lot of food; it was a bit awkward to have it reversed. By the time the waiter brought their drinks Chad figured the best thing to do was to change the subject.

"So what'd you and Gabs do?"

"You're awfully interested in what I do with my free time now," Taylor noticed taking a sip of her water.

Chad shrugged, "I just wanna make sure Gabs isn't driving you crazy."

Taylor rubbed her temples. "I love Gabriella and I'm so thankful to have her around, but she's already coming up with baby names. I don't know how much of it I can take."

"Maybe we should start thinking about names," Chad suggested.

Taylor looked at him doubtfully. "Are you insane?"

Chad paused. "Maybe. But that's not the point," he said. "I mean, we have a ton of stuff to plan, don't we? We might as well start with the easiest."

"I can't believe you're jumping on the bandwagon, too," she sighed.

"Well, we don't have to come up with names right now. Maybe we could start with middle names?" he suggested.

Taylor quirked an eyebrow. "You really are insane."

"Ok, fine. I'm insane," Chad agreed. "How about this then, you pick a letter and I brainstorm names. Jump in any time you want."

"Ok, fine," Taylor gave in. As long as it got everyone to shut up for a little while. "E."

"E?" Chad repeated. "That's gonna be a hard one."

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Then start with boy's names."

"Ok…Evan," Chad said.

Taylor shook her head. "You mean like Sharpay and Ryan _Evans_?"

"Good point," he agreed. "Eustace?"

"Eustace? That's almost as bad as Eddie."

"What's wrong with Eddie?"

"It sounds like a kid who'd have crooked teeth and get picked on all the time."

"Better than Edward."

"And what's wrong with Edward?"

"I'm not naming any of my kids after some sparkly vampire from Twilight."

There was a moment of silence as the two stared at each other.

"Maybe we should try girls' names," Taylor suggested.

Chad smirked playfully, "Who's on the bandwagon now?"

"Oh please," Taylor rolled her eyes, "I just happen to know what name I'd like for a girl."

"What's that?" Chad asked.

"Evelyn. It was my mom's name. But she insisted that everyone call her Eevee," Taylor explained.

"Like the Pokémon?" Chad joked.

"That was before Pokémon. She just wanted to be called that because she hated her name," she said. She smiled at the memories of her mother.

"I like it," Chad said with a smile. "Well, for a girl anyway. I don't think a guy could pull off the name Evelyn."

"Maybe when we're done with school this year we can settle on a full name," Taylor suggested. "Something that sounds good with Evelyn."

"Evelyn McKessie or Evelyn Danforth?" Chad inquired.

"It could be hyphenated," she pointed out. "But we should probably get through the hard stuff before we work out the full name."

Chad raised his glass, "Well then, here's to surviving junior year."

Taylor grinned and tapped her glass with his. "Cheers."

* * *

Finally they've gotten down to one of the hardest questions...what to name your baby. Every time I imagine Chad and Taylor having kids, I imagine the same names almost every time. This story will not be one of those times. Of course the funny thing about this is, my friend has a book of baby names for when she writes stories, and in one of the chapters before the list of names it says not to pick the middle name first. Well sucks to you, book, cause Chad and Taylor are picking the middle name first! That, and the book was wrong about a bunch of other name topics (i.e.: Anastasia being a Disney name and that it's disrespectful to name a baby after someone in your family who died). Anyway, the point is, the names are a big deal. But for this chapter, I kept it nice and simple especially since the topic will come up again. A lot of times. And each time is more fun than the last. Spoiler - chapter 27 will be a good one with names. Back on topic, after a lot of writer's block and no time to write chapter 28, I finished that chapter. The problem now is what to make chapter 29 about. I think I know what, and I'm pretty sure I'll be posting chapter eight before the end of February. Hopefully that gives you all something to look forward to and adds a little more Chaylorness to your lives. So apparently Monday is President's Day. To all you guys who get the day off from school, enjoy it! Everyone else...uh...happy...President's Day? o.0 Ok then. Goodnight everyone!


	8. Chapter 8

So I may not have updated or even wrote another chapter in a while, but I decided to be good and post chapter 8. Things are calming down a little at home and there's more or less a normal schedule now with everything that's going on, but writing another chapter for this story hasn't exactly been the first thing on my mind. If anything, coming up a new story has been on my mind. 0.0  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the idea behind 16 and Pregnant.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_It's been two weeks since Chad told me he talked to Ryan about getting a job and I haven't heard anything about it since our dinner. I'm glad Chad is trying to do something to step up, but it would be nice if he at least filled out other applications. Ryan may be his friend, but there's still no guarantee Chad would get the job. And even if he does get the job, he won't be able to get there without a car. I know worrying or questioning Chad won't do any good so I'm starting to wonder if I should take the money situation into my own hands._

Chad wandered around the halls of East High after the final bell rang. Since his next basketball game wasn't for a few days and midterms were right around the corner, Chad didn't have to worry about practice. But there were other things on his mind.

The first was his family. He was still struggling to keep Taylor's pregnancy a secret from them and he desperately wanted to know what they would think of it. He was sure his younger sister would have no issues with it; she adored Taylor. And he knew his mom was crazy about Taylor, too. But even he worried about the same things Taylor did – would they look at her any differently? Would their impressions of her change? And what would they think of Chad being so careless in the first place? He was sure he didn't have to worry about his mom; she had always joked about loving him no matter what unless he did something illegal. And once he proved to her he would step up and do the right thing, he was sure there was nothing to worry about. But for all he knew, she could also surprise him and be completely against the idea. His brother and father, however, were different topics. With Mr. Danforth always away, he knew almost nothing about Taylor and so for him to come home and be told he was going to be a grandfather he would automatically jump to the wrong conclusion. Honestly, Chad didn't care as much about his father's opinion. He spent more time buried in his work than with his family. Chad's brother meant well, but he could be judgmental. He was extremely overprotective of Chad and their sister, so odds were that he'd be disappointed. He also went to community college so he continued to live at home instead of go away and dorm. Knowing that more room would need to be made for a baby, he could feel the need to find his own place. Or that now that Chad would be a father, he wouldn't need his brother as much anymore. Chad didn't want anyone to think that.

There was also the question of school. Chad knew Taylor would go to college no matter what; she was too smart to pass up the chance to further her education. And heck if Chad was going to let her stop after high school. His own education was a different story. He played basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring; he'd go to college in a heartbeat if he got a sports scholarship. But it would leave him with the question of what to do with his life. Sure he wanted to play sports; Chad was a born athlete. But even he knew a future in something like the NBA couldn't be guaranteed. He wasn't about to push his luck now, either. At this point he was contemplating working full time once high school was done and go back to school when he was older. He just didn't think his family – or Taylor, for that matter – would let him go through with that.

For the time being, what Chad needed was someone to talk to. He was hoping he could work a time out with Taylor to definitely tell their families. He knew it wasn't something she wanted to talk about; as close as they were, there were still things Taylor didn't open up about. He wished he knew what to do to get her to talk more. Evidently, it would have to wait; upon entering the science lab Chad saw everyone from the Scholastic Decathlon team except for Taylor.

Timothy was the first to look up. He folded his arms and glared at Chad. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my girlfriend," Chad answered.

"Well she's not here," Timothy retorted.

"I can see that, genius," he muttered.

"Good, then you can leave. We're trying to practice here," Timothy said.

Gabriella sighed. "Everyone, take five," she told the group. She walked over to Chad and led him out of the classroom. "I know you're worried about Taylor, but whether she's here or not this isn't the time or place to talk to her. The team's really on edge right now."

"The team, or the nerd?" Chad asked.

Gabriella thought for a minute. "Both, but mostly Timothy."

Chad pursed his lips. "So I don't suppose you know where Taylor is, do you?"

She shook her head. "She wasn't feeling well seventh period. Maybe she went home or to the doctor or something."

"Didn't look like the team was thrilled she wasn't there," Chad noticed.

"Well, they calmed down for the most part," Gabriella admitted. "But Timothy's still trying to convince them Taylor's anorexic."

"Jealous douche," Chad mumbled.

She nodded in agreement. "Did you try texting her?"

"Can't, Phone's dead," Chad shook his head.

"Try calling her later," she suggested. "You guys still have a few games before the championship so I'm sure she'll want to see you more before you get totally occupied."

"Thanks Gabs," Chad said. "Good luck with the team. If Timothy keeps up his mouth I'll try and shut him up."

"Just don't cause any drama. I'll call Tay when the meeting's over and let her know you were looking for her," she said. She walked back into the room and Chad continued down the hall once more. It looked like he was going to have to put off the conversation longer than he wanted.

"Hey Chad!"

Or maybe Chad would have to wait longer than that. He turned around and saw a bright pink fedora running down the hall. Of course the fedora belonged to none other than Ryan.

"Hey man, what's up?" Chad asked.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Ryan said. "My parents wanna meet you and see what you can do."

Chad blinked. "Wait, you mean for Lava Springs?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I talked to my folks and they said they could use some younger life around the club. I think they also want me and Sharpay to associate with more than just the members."

"That's great man, thanks a lot," Chad said. He was completely shocked by the news; he wasn't even sure if he would hear anything back about getting a job there. But it was work, the money was decent, and it was just what Chad needed to get started. "When do they want me there?"

"We can go there now," Ryan answered.

"But I don't have a ride," he said.

"We can take my sister's convertible. She's waiting outside," he offered.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Ride with the Ice Princess? You sure that's a good idea?"

Ryan thought for a minute. "Not really," he admitted, "but do you have a better idea?"

Chad bit his lip and then reluctantly nodded. "You're right, let's go."

The boys exited East High and headed to the parking lot in the back. It didn't take long to spot the shiny pink convertible complete with the Evans' logo. The blond in the car automatically looked up from applying mascara and snapped her compact mirror shut.

"Ryan, what's Danforth doing here?" she demanded.

Chad was about to counter, but Ryan intervened. "Mom and Dad wanna meet with him about working at Lava Springs. We need a ride," he answered.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Danforth is not getting in this car," Sharpay insisted.

"Who said I wanted to?" Chad muttered.

"Why do you even wanna work for our country club, anyway?" she questioned.

"I need money," Chad answered simply.

"So go apply to a Burger King or some crappy place like that," she argued.

"Not good enough."

"Fine then, Kohl's!"

"Screw it!"

"Screw you!"

"Look Ice Princess, I'm just trying to work here."

"Good for you."

"I don't need your sarcasm, I need a lift."

"To my country club of all places?" Sharpay demanded. "What does a riffraff like you even know about working at a place like that? Mommy and Daddy would never hire someone like you."

"In your dreams, maybe," Chad retorted. "I don't care what you say, I need that job and I'm gonna get it."

"Why do you need it so bad?" she questioned.

"None of your business," he replied.

"Shar, it really isn't. Can we just drop it and go?" Ryan agreed.

"No," she answered simply. A smirk slowly started to appear across her face. Chad knew what that meant; Sharpay had a plan. This was a sneaky, manipulative, b*tch of a girl. And he didn't like where this was going. "I'll give you a ride to our club. On one condition," she continued, "you tell me why you really need this job."

Chad bit his tongue. Aside from being East High's Ice Princess, Sharpay was also a gossip. She was known to spread a lot of rumors. If he was stupid enough to tell Sharpay why he wanted the job, word would get out by the next day. It'd ruin his and Taylor's reputations and strip away their rights of telling people when they were ready. Chad hadn't even told Troy yet and they were best friends. Chad didn't want him to find out because of Sharpay.

For Sharpay, it was easy for her to spot people's nervousness. And Chad was a sitting duck. "Well? It only takes on sentence. Just tell me and the ride is yours."

Chad shook his head. "I can't tell."

Sharpay shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. Go find a job somewhere else. Ryan, let's move."

"Shouldn't we give him a chance?" Ryan asked.

Sharpay pondered that for a moment. "You know what, Ry? You're right. We should give him a chance to talk. And I think he needs a little incentive."

Ryan sent Chad an apologetic look. Chad rolled his eyes. The next thing he saw was Sharpay pulling a checkbook out of her purse.

"This is a check for the first payday of working at Lava Springs," she explained as she wrote, "if you tell me why you need this job so badly, the check and ride is all yours."

"And if I say no?" Chad inquired.

Sharpay smirked. "I'll do the digging myself. Any possible reason you could need more money than working at some fast food joint, I'll find out. If it's for another girl, if you owe someone money, getting a fake ID and leaving the country, or to buy drugs, I'll find out. Or maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just write up a text right now and send it to everyone on my phone. What do you think of the headline, 'Druggie Danforth'?"

"It's not for drugs," Chad insisted.

"Lava Springs pays its workers handsomely, Danforth. Why would someone like you need money like that?" she replied.

"I think I'm gonna go stand over there," Ryan said. With clear tension between the two, he walked across the parking lot, leaving his sister and Chad alone.

"How do you know I need the money that bad?" Chad asked. "Maybe it's to look good for college or something."

Sharpay laughed. "Good one, Danforth. You? Prepare for college? That's a hoot."

"Sharpay, I'm done playing games. Are you gonna give me the ride or not?" Chad insisted.

"My offer remains where it is," she answered. "If you want the slightest chance of getting to Lava Springs and work there, if you want the money that bad for anything, you tell me why and I give you the ride and the check. Then we both go on our merry ways and you're all cushy for a year. So what's it gonna be?"

* * *

I finally threw Ryan and Sharpay into the story. I wish I could say there's gonna be more of them, but within the next ten-ish chapters only Sharpay will appear in one chapter. I really should fix that. But I figured, with how well Chad and Taylor are doing keeping the pregnancy a secret, there has to be some kinda threat to get the secret out, right? And there's no one better in the series to out a secret than Sharpay. Besides, who doesn't love the conflict between Chad and Sharpay? Chad wins, obviously. 0=) Anyway, even though I haven't been very productive on my fanfiction, I did make a Tumblr page and one of my friends (pretty much the only one I talk to who is into High School Musical) is trying to convince me to make a page for High School Musical. Or in my case, a Tumblr page for Chaylor. xD But I've got a bigger issue with my fanfiction than possibly not having enough time to write... see, last week I had a dream. Literally. And of course it was about Chad and Taylor. And immediately my mind began planning everything that could happen to them post-college. Obviously things would happen to them in college, too, but that's more for if I ever plan to write my High School Musical Degrassi-esque story. And I really really want to write the idea but considering I've got this story, the Deleted Scenes and Princess and the Frog I really _shouldn't_ start another story. Someone tell me what to do? Please? xD


	9. Chapter 9

At long last, another chapter appears! I'm gonna keep it short and sweet up here so you guys can get to reading. So...uh...yeah. Just enjoy.  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_I'm starting to show now so I need to wear more baggy clothes. It's a small bump, so it's not enough for someone to automatically think I'm pregnant. But it is enough to notice some weight gain. I'm trying not to draw attention to myself, but it's going to be harder to hide this from everyone soon. The last Decathlon competition is this week so once that's done I can focus on Chemistry Club. But even if I try to put in as much time with my clubs this year as I can I have no idea how it's going to affect senior year._

"Thanks for letting us meet up here, Gabriella," Taylor said. She, Gabriella and Chad were sitting on the rooftop garden during free period. Gabriella was sitting next to Taylor, working on some notes for the upcoming Decathlon competition. Taylor sat between the two of them with a binder in her lap. With Chad and Gabriella the only people that knew, Taylor didn't want to risk anyone else finding out. The rooftop garden was the most private place they were going to get.

"No problem," Gabriella responded. "I'm sure Troy wouldn't mind either."

"Does Troy know yet?" Taylor inquired.

Gabriella shook her head. "Believe me, there are times that I've wanted to tell him. But I don't think it's my place."

Taylor turned her gaze to Chad, who let out a sigh.

"How do I tell my best friend I'm gonna be a dad?" Chad replied. "C'mon, that's like the guy's dream."

"I told Gabriella," Taylor reminded him.

Gabriella giggled. "No you didn't. I practically told you."

Chad raised an eyebrow. "So what, I get Troy to tell me?"

"Sure, why not," Taylor agreed. She opened her binder and pulled out a small picture. "Show him one of the last sonogram pictures. I'm sure that'll get the message across."

Chad smiled and took the picture. "Man that's a good shot. Fifteen weeks. Who do you think it looks like?"

"Like a silhouette of a tiny person with a big head," Taylor answered.

Chad looked at the picture again. "Oh yeah, it kinda does."

"Hilarious guys," Gabriella rolled her eyes playfully.

"Hey why are you so into that work, anyway?" Chad asked. "It's only one more competition."

"And you and Troy only have one game left before the championship," Gabriella replied. "After the competition tomorrow I have an English midterm so as soon as I'm done cramming all this information I have to study."

"Gabriella, trust me, you have the least amount of worries. You're not planning for a baby," Taylor reminded her.

"How is that planning going, by the way?" she asked.

"It's…ok…" Taylor answered hesitantly. It was clear she was lying; Taylor was already nibbling one of her nails.

"You haven't done any planning, have you?" Gabriella asked as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I wanted to tell my family but does Taylor listen? No," Chad answered.

"Well what about you?" Taylor asked him. "What happened to that job at Lava Springs Ryan offered you?"

There was a pause from Chad. He looked like he wasn't sure how to answer. "Yeah…about that, um…. It didn't work out."

"What happened?" Gabriella wondered.

Chad shook his head. "Just…it wasn't a good fit. Not a good caddie."

Taylor wasn't sure how to respond to that. She wanted to question why he wasn't out looking for another job now. She knew she should say she was sorry and encourage him. But neither of those ended up coming out of her mouth. "I guess I'll start job hunting then," she said. "I'll see what I can find that's part time, I'll drop Chem Club and divide time next year between work, school and the baby."

"What? No way!" Chad gasped. "School's your life, Tay. How are you supposed to live your life if you're too busy working?"

"We need a source of income. If your parents are ok with this, I don't want them thinking we're going to rely on them all the time," she replied.

"Ok then, so once the championship is over I'll start looking for a job," Chad said.

It was the answer she wanted to hear; yet she didn't feel any better by it. "You have a life, too. And if we both have to give up things in the end, I don't want us to resent each other."

"Why would we do that?" Chad asked.

Gabriella took that as the opportunity to give them time to talk. She gathered her things and began descending the staircase. "I'll let you guys be alone. See you for the Decathlon meeting at lunch?"

Taylor nodded as Gabriella left. She let out a breath and turned her attention back to Chad. "We are going to have to give up a lot of things. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Chad gave a nod with a confused look.

Taylor didn't seem to buy it. "Do you really?"

"Well, I know it means we'll have to work, and juggle school with the baby," he said.

"Which means we won't have any free time. Life won't be about you playing basketball or me competing on the Academic Decathlon. We'll hardly be able to see our friends and anything we do, we'll have to put the baby first," she explained. "We have to give up things that we love to do, and if one of us feels like we're giving up more than the other then we may come to resent each other."

"That's not gonna happen," he replied. Chad was sure of that.

"Chad, if one of us had to give up school – or take classes online over leaving the house for school – that means one of us will get out more than the other. One of us would have a sense of freedom that the other doesn't. So if we couldn't find a free daycare or a babysitter one of us would have to stay home with the baby during the day. And I know that I would give up going to school if I had to. But if it meant that you could go to school and I could only take classes online, I'd feel like you wouldn't have the same sense of responsibility that I would because I'd be home with him or her more often. And by the same token, if you had to take online classes and I left for school then that would deprive you of playing basketball and I understand that's what you love to do but it wouldn't be any more fair asking you to take online classes than it would be asking me to," she tried to explain.

"But what does going to school have to do with one of us getting a job?" he asked.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to work just to support us," Taylor answered. "I know any kind of money would be good at this point, but that doesn't mean you should feel obligated to apply for jobs you're going to hate. And it's going to be hard to juggle work with school. I don't know how fair that is to you when you need more than just a few hours a night to do homework."

"Hey now, don't go implying I'm dumb or anything," he said.

"I'm not. All I'm saying is that I could handle having less time for schoolwork if I had to. But could you?" she replied.

"But what's the difference between work and school?" Chad asked. "You said if one of us had to do online schooling but the other could still go to East High, then the one taking online classes would get angry or whatever. How would working be any different? That still means one of us is getting out more than the other."

Taylor had to admit, she was impressed that he was at least trying to think these things through. But saying and doing were two different things. Still, Chad was hearing her side; it was only fair to see what he was thinking. "So what would you suggest about that?"

"I don't know," Chad shrugged his shoulders, "maybe that one of us goes to school and the other works?"

"So whoever takes online classes would go to work at night?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," he said.

While the idea in general had some merit, Taylor wasn't so sure. "I don't know," she sighed running her fingers through her hair. She leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. "We shouldn't have to do this, throwing a baby into the mix of school. We should be doing this when we're stable and have actual jobs, not worrying about which classes we can and can't make."

Chad lightly rubbed her back. "I know," he said softly. "We're just…. Dumb teens, I guess."

Taylor shook her head, "If we can't make decisions about school how are we supposed to raise a baby?"

"We need to tell my mom," Chad said. "She'll tell us what to do."

"You think so?" she wondered.

Chad nodded. "We have to. We could sure use the help. And fast."

Taylor nodded in agreement; she knew Chad was right. And as nerve-wrecking as it was to think about what the reaction would be or what the next step would be, they had to tell the Danforths sooner or later. The longer they hid it, the harder it would hit.

The bell rang, signifying the end of free period. Chad and Taylor headed downstairs and parted ways to their respective classes. Taylor tried her best to pay attention during her class but every once in a while her mind would wander. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for her to slip into her own world or try to predict the future. Once the lunch bell rang she had to meet with the Decathlon team. Taylor was debating on telling them now or after their last competition that she would not be part of the team next year. But when she did they would ask why and she would have to give them an answer. If anything, at least it would put the anorexia rumors to rest. Their reactions to her pregnancy weren't very bothersome; they were her friends, but they weren't opinions she valued as highly as Gabriella's. One thing Taylor was sure of was that she would get the most beef from Timothy. Knowing him, he would question how she could do something so stupid and probably be jealous. She was not looking forward to dealing with that.

The meeting overall went ok. Taylor and Gabriella took turns leading the group with science, equations and the typical topics covered in the competitions. The group seemed to show more respect towards Gabriella, which Taylor couldn't blame them for. She had been in and out lately so it was only fair that they didn't trust her so much to stick around. Taylor decided to get it out of the way when the meeting was over to break the news rather than put it off. She didn't want to tell them about the pregnancy yet, but they would want a reason and she'd have to give it to them.

"Ok guys, great job today. We are going to kick butt at that competition," Taylor announced once the meeting came to a close.

Martha rose from her seat and approached Taylor. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry if any of us doubted you. We should have known that no matter what was going on you wouldn't let us down."

"Thank you," Taylor said with a small smile. It made her feel a little better that someone believed her and wasn't mad about the occasional leavings. "I am sorry if I haven't been as big a part of the team as I used to be. I have a lot going on right now. But I'm happy that Gabriella has taken over so well and that you all respond to her as a captain well because she will be taking over next year."

A couple of gasps filled the room. All eyes immediately fell on Taylor, begging for answers. Gabriella stayed out of the way, leaving Taylor to calm everyone down herself and wait for complete silence before speaking again.

"It's not fair to you all for me to continue being captain and not be able to commit to you as much as you deserve. Gabriella will be here every week; she is more than willing to step up to the plate and work everything out. She's handled herself so well during my absence and I'm happy to leave you all to her next year," Taylor explained. She attempted to keep it as calm and professional as possible. She especially didn't want it to sound like she was ditching them.

"Why are you leaving us?" Timothy asked. "It's not because of the anorexia is it?"

Of course he would be the one to bring it up. Everyone else seemed to let the rumor pass over but Timothy just wouldn't let it go. "First of all, let me say this and get it out there – I am not anorexic. I have no idea where you all got that idea from. Throwing up or losing focus doesn't always deal with an eating disorder."

"So then what's going on?" Martha asked.

"I want this to be kept exclusively in the group. I don't want it to be spread across East High," Taylor said. She bit her tongue, unsure of how to word it from there. Was she really going to tell them now? Honestly, Taylor was unsure how much she could trust all of them. They were so quick to turn on her before, so who was to say they wouldn't do it again? She debated saying that she had family issues, but odds were she would get questions about how they would last a whole year. She contemplated saying she was getting a job to save money for college, but she wasn't sure how believable that sounded. As awkward as it was, the best thing was the truth. "I'm not going to be able to spend as much time in the Decathlon as I'd like next year because I'm pregnant." She let out a light sigh at the end. She was met with clearly blank stares and dropped mouths. After a long moment of silence, Martha was the first to speak up.

"Is it Chad's?" she wondered.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. Why on earth would they think it wasn't? "Of course it is."

The next thing they heard was Timothy cursing under his breath. He practically knocked down a chair before storming out of the room.

There was another long, awkward silence.

"So…you're keeping it then?" Martha asked.

Taylor nodded. "I understand it's a lot to take in and it is a surprise but I'm seeing this year through the end. I just wanted to make it clear that this is why I've been getting sick and keeping my distance. And I know, considering I've not been the most loyal captain this year, what I'm asking is a lot but I wanted to ask that you not tell anyone and just keep this to yourselves."

There were a couple of nods, though the room remained silent. Gabriella was the only one who didn't seem too concerned. She remained to the side and let Taylor handle this. But there was a point that had to be reminded to Taylor.

"No offense Tay, but it probably wasn't the best idea to tell Timothy," she said quietly.

Taylor couldn't help but nod. Whatever happened now was out of her hands. Needless to say it was a bit of a relief to tell some people about the pregnancy. It indirectly prepared her to tell Chad's family because their shocked and speechless reactions have her an idea of what to expect. The reality of the upcoming year was slowly sinking in and Taylor began to realize that the Decathlon wouldn't be the only thing she'd have to give up. Before the year's end she'd have to report to the Chemistry Club and tell them she was stepping down as president. But knowing that she would be leaving her extracurricular life behind senior year gave her another dose of reality – she wouldn't be able to run for student council president either.

* * *

I know, it's a pretty short chapter. I'll admit, aside from the medical stuff in this story, the timeline is probably my other weak link that I'm not paying much attention to. I pretty much have them slip right by midterms when it should take longer because there were other aspects of the story that I felt were more important. I mean, midterms are obviously important, just...not in this story. You know what I mean? Ok then moving on. I did start writing another chapter of this story, but I haven't really touched it in a while. In my free time for about the past week I've been working on another Chaylor story. I have no one to blame but myself for random brainstorms and wanting more Chaylor. Ok, and someone else kinda talked me into it (you know who you are). The point is, I've written three full chapters of that story so far and if you guys ask really really nicely maybe I'll post the first chapter (spoiler - it gets really really sweet!). The other thing I spent my free time doing this week is...I made an HSM Tumblr! Yeah, that's right, I caved in and made one. And i'm ashamed to say that I updated that blog more in one day than i do with my own tumblr. Anyway, so far other than posting a couple pictures I drew and random posts, I've been taking screencaps from the blooper reels in the movies and put little captions on them, kinda to be all entertaining. That, and I thought they were funny. So that's pretty much going to be what'll be on there, but I'm open to other suggestions (that aren't gifs). So please, feel free to check it out and lemme know what other HSM blogs actually exist after like 5 years of the movie franchise ending! (Who else is hoping for a 10-year reunion in 2016, by the way? Cause i know i am!) Oh yeah, i should probably tell you what my HSM Tumblr is called. xD Well seeing as how i couldn't come up with a better name, it's just called general wildcat .tumblr .com (no spaces). Did i say that on my profile, too? I think i did. Ok, i kept you guys here enough. Off you go to review or back into the boring old real world or...you know, wherever people like us go after we read a chapter. Ooooh that reminds me! Before i lose you guys, i just wanted to say thanks to the people who are still reading and reviewing, and who started reviewing as well! Didn't want you to think i forgot about you cause you guys are the reason i keep posting on here! :)


	10. Chapter 10

I really wanted to work on my new story tonight, and I had every intention to. But there were a few things that had to be taken care of and then I watched the new episode of Degrassi and it pretty much got to the point where i was just too lazy to write anything at all. So instead I decided to post the next chapter of 16 and Pregnant, which is actually a better idea cause I have like 28 chapters written so it'd do some good to get more chapters up. xD Anyway, read and enjoy!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM or 16 and Pregnant.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

_I finally gave in and agreed to tell Chad's family. We're going to tell them when they get home today. We were originally going to only tell his mom so we could ask what she thinks and get advice what to do, but Chad really wants to tell his brother and sister, too. He really values all of their opinions. I do as well, but I worry about his mother the most. She's the closest thing I've had to an actual parent since my mom died and I really don't want this to change anything between us or what she thinks of me._

Midterms came and went and the season for basketball and the academic decathlon came to an end. It was now February and Taylor was roughly seventeen weeks along. There hadn't been any rumors circulating since Taylor told the Decathlon team so things seemed to have calmed down. It seemed like the perfect time to tell Chad's family. They sat in Chad's living room anxiously waiting for his family to come home from school and work. Taylor remained on the couch, tapping her feet nervously and occasionally biting her nails. Every once in a while, Chad got off the couch and paced around the living room.

"What time is it now?" Taylor broke the silence.

Chad glanced at one of his watches, "Three fifteen."

Taylor sighed. The wait was agonizing. She almost wished she had already told them and just got it over with. "What do you think they're gonna say?"

Chad shrugged his shoulders and ran a hand through his hair. "Lecture us, probably."

While Taylor expected that as well, she couldn't help but look at her boyfriend doubtfully. "You really think we're going to get a lecture about being parents from your ten-year-old sister?"

"Ok, probably not from her," he replied quickly. "Bryan's probably gonna be the worst."

"You don't think this is going to ruin your relationship with him, do you?" she couldn't help but wonder. She knew Chad and his family were close so the last thing she wanted to do was screw that up.

"I hope not," Chad admitted. "He thinks he knows what's best just cause he's the oldest."

"Great," Taylor said sarcastically. She looked down and resumed biting her nails.

Chad noticed her doing this and took his seat next to her. He gently took her hand away and caressed it a little with his thumb in attempt to relax her. "Don't worry about what Bryan says. I can take his comments. And if he goes too far, I'll beat him up."

Taylor appreciated him trying; she smiled and pecked his cheek. "Oh honey…" Then her smile fell, "He's a junior in college who has at least six inches over you. You don't stand a chance."

"Way to ruin my fun," Chad pouted playfully.

"I'm sorry, but someone had to say it," Taylor apologized. She ran her fingers through his hair. "And I don't want to see my boyfriend get beat up by his own brother."

"I can hold my own against him," Chad insisted.

"No you can't, Bryan'll kick your butt."

The couple turned to see Chad's sister walked into the house. She dropped her Hello Kitty backpack off to the side and took off her jacket. Her skin was a little lighter than Chad's and her brown hair tied in pigtails was a fine line between wavy and curly.

"Hey whose side are you on?" Chad joked. He got off the couch and scooped Hollie, playfully tickling her.

"Put me down!" she gasped. She struggled to get out of Chad's grip before running over to Taylor. "Taylor save me from the meanie!"

"I'm no meanie!" Chad gasped.

"Sorry Chad, she likes me best," Taylor playfully stuck her tongue out.

"Oh c'mon," Chad complained overdramatically. He slumped back onto the couch. "What does Taylor have that I don't?" He took a minute to look at them and think about what he just asked. "You know…aside from the body?"

"Brains," Hollie answered without even thinking about it.

"Well we all know-" Chad started but was cut off by his sister.

"And nicer clothes. And awesomeness. And she doesn't tease me or attack me. And focus. And she doesn't stay up past midnight playing video games. And she bakes good cookies. And she gives good advice," Hollie continued.

Chad folded his arms and Taylor giggled. "I think he gets the point, Hollie," she said.

"I know," she nodded with a smile, "I just like to remind him how much smarter we are and how much better we are."

"Ok, you made your point. Can we watch TV now?" Chad replied.

"But I wasn't done reminding you how much you wuv Taylor," Hollie teased before making smooching sounds.

Chad jumped off the couch but Hollie giggled and ran into the kitchen. Chad waited a moment before sitting back on the couch and fiddling with his shirt collar, having just been embarrassed by his sister. "Sisters…right?" he chuckled nervously.

"Oh yeah. They're…such a handful," Taylor agreed. Her cheeks turned a little red and she moved some hair away from her face.

There was an awkward silence between them.

"So…"

"So…"

The silence continued.

Hollie returned from the kitchen with a glass of milk. Seeing Chad and Taylor that way and obviously bored, she rolled her eyes. She crept up to Chad from behind the couch and whispered to him, "Pssssst…this is the part where you kiss her!"

Even Taylor could hear her rather loud whisper; Hollie wasn't good at keeping quiet, something that ran in the Danforth family. But something else than was in the family was their ability of distraction. Chad always had this way of taking Taylor's mind off of things and Hollie seemed to have that quality as well. Taylor glanced at Chad form the corner of her eye. He scooted a little closer to her. Taylor mimicked him. Another scoot, and then another one. Visibly bored at their slow pace, Hollie rolled her eyes and playfully pushed Chad forward so he landed on top of Taylor.

"Ok, you saw that wasn't me that time, right?" he quickly asked Taylor.

"Right, because you never decide to tackle me," she said sarcastically.

Chad looked at her innocently, "But if I don't tackle you, you might run away."

"Now why would I ever do that?"

"Cause I'm crazy."

"How crazy?"

"This crazy."

He filled the remaining space between the two of them and pressed his lips against Taylor's in a soft yet passionate kiss. For a minute it felt like they didn't have anything to worry about. That is, of course, until the front door opened and Chad's mom and brother walked through.

"Hi everyone," Mrs. Danforth greeted.

Hollie took it as her opportunity. "Mommy, Chad's making out with Taylor!"

The couple quickly pulled away from each other and Chad sent a glare towards his sister.

"Chad, please don't do that in front of your sister," Mrs. Danforth sighed.

"Yeah. That's how accidents happen," Bryan agreed, emphasizing 'accidents'.

Chad and Taylor sat up and exchanged glances. Suddenly they were reminded of what they were there to do.

"So how was school?" Mrs. Danforth asked no one in particular.

"We watched a video bout puberty today. And how we're gonna grow lots of hair and get all mushy bout stuff," Hollie answered.

"Did you learn anything else?" she asked.

Hollie shook her head. "No, but one kid asked if we were gonna find out where babies come from. But we don't find out till middle school."

Chad and Taylor exchanged glances, their nerves quickly escalating.

Bryan squeezed himself onto the couch between Chad and Taylor, as if to break them up. It was easy to forget when he was sitting down how tall he was; his height was sometimes intimidating. Save for that, he looked like an older version of Chad with shorter hair.

"So…what are you doing home so early, bro?" Chad asked, wishing he could find a way to get closer to his girlfriend. "Thought you had classes till five."

"It's the first week of classes, they let out early," Bryan replied. "So what were you two doing setting a bad example for the mini?"

"The 'mini' was the one that started it," Chad replied, using his brother's nickname for Hollie.

Bryan laughed. "You expect me to believe that a ten-year-old made you two make out?"

"It does sound silly," Taylor reminded Chad.

"But that's how it happened," Chad replied. "You saw it."

"If I didn't I may not believe it," she admitted. She had always been on his family's good side and so by siding with Bryan even on something so silly Taylor was hoping it would stay that way.

"I do like your girlfriend," Bryan told Chad as he got up. "Don't screw this one over."

"Yeah, um, about that…" Chad started.

"So, how was the last competition?" Mrs. Danforth asked Taylor. She sat on the chair across from them and eagerly awaited an answer, throwing Chad's thought off track.

"It was a close match," Taylor answered. "Gabriella scored us the final question at the last second."

"That's wonderful," Mrs. Danforth smiled. "So what are you going to do for the rest of the year?"

Taylor shrugged. "Just focus on school and try to get good grades."

"That's a very smart thing to do," she nodded in approval. "Junior year is what the colleges are going to look at the most. It's good to have your priorities straight."

"Right…priorities," Taylor agreed almost nervously. She twiddled her thumbs and looked down.

Chad saw it as an opportunity to take the lead; maybe try and get things started before it was dragged out too much. "What if we said we were gonna have more priorities?" he asked. "Like…. Work?"

"I think that's a great idea," Mrs. Danforth smiled. "You can start saving money for college and it's a great way to get some experience."

"But what if we needed work for more than just college?" Chad wondered.

His mother raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Chad and Taylor looked at each other. Now seemed to be as good a time as any. They slowly turned their gaze back to Chad's mom. "There's…sorta…well there's something…" Chad stammered. "We gotta tell you something."

Mrs. Danforth raised an eyebrow. Bryan leaned on the chair behind her, looking at them expectantly. Hollie sat on the floor, tapping her feet together in a curious manner. Chad looked to Taylor, trying to telepathically ask her if she wanted to tell them. And while they couldn't communicate that way Taylor could tell by the look in his eyes what he was asking. It was hard for her to look them in the eyes with the way they were staring at her. She could already read their reactions. Bryan looked as if he were ready to burst. Mrs. Danforth looked more worried than anything else. Hollie only had a blank yet curious stare. None of those stares were making her feel any better. She looked down.

"The thing is…" she stammered quietly. This was nothing like telling Chad, just mindlessly blurting it out. She glanced at Chad from the corner of her eye, who was just as visibly nervous as she was. Taylor lightly grabbed one of his hands, as a way of asking for support. She knew Chad couldn't say anything to that; he was just as scared as she was. But he not only squeezed her hand back but held on tightly with both of his hands and rested his head against them. That was all Taylor could ask for. She looked at his family again and took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Bryan was the first to react. "Sh*t," he cursed a bit too loudly before angrily pacing around the living room. He rubbed his temples before turning furiously to Chad. "What are you thinking, bro? What's the matter with you?"

"Apparently a lot," Chad muttered.

"Don't tell me you're keeping it, too," Bryan groaned.

Chad didn't say anything. He just looked up at his brother.

"You're not serious…" Bryan's voice seemed to trail off. When there was no response from Chad, Bryan's rant continued. "Damn it, Chad! What are you doing keeping a baby? You're just a kid! You don't know anything about being a dad! You're screwing your girlfriend's life and you're screwing your life."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Bry," Chad muttered.

"Excuse you?" he scoffed.

Chad stood up and looked his brother in the eyes. "I said you don't know what you're talking about. You have no idea how hard we're working to plan for this and you have no right to tell us what to do."

"Do you have a job?"

"No…"

"Are you gonna finish school?"

"Yes."

"Where are you gonna live? What are you gonna buy? Do even know what a baby needs?"

"Bryan, shut it."

"How do you even know if that damn baby is yours?"

Chad shoved Bryan. Bryan nudged Chad. The brothers began to roughhouse with each other, one trying to overpower the other.

"Alright, that's enough," Mrs. Danforth scolded. She got between the boys in attempt to break them up.

Taylor couldn't take it anymore. Hearing one reaction was one thing; Chad told her to expect Bryan to overreact. She wasn't mad or upset over that. There were two things Bryan was doing that were sending her over the edge. The first was fighting with Chad; she didn't want them to fight over anything because of her. But what made it even worse was that he dared to question if Chad was even the father. It was one thing for people at school to question; they didn't know any better. But hearing Bryan react the way he did; the way he said it; not to mention the fact that she proved to Chad's family how loyal she was to him…. It infuriated her. Taylor had seen her father around enough women to know not to turn into one of them. Chad was the first and only person she had ever been with. She didn't care if it was said out of anger or fear; as far as Taylor was considered, implying that she would be intimate with anyone besides Chad was demeaning and hurtful. And she didn't want to be part of it for another second. She didn't even bother to grab anything of hers, she just ran out of the house as fast as she could. She stopped at the curb and sat down. She rubbed her eyes in attempt to dry them. She needed to calm down. But it was hard to calm down when she had been given such a large insult.

Some of the pain seemed to go away when Taylor felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She paused from the sudden sensation before looking next to her and seeing Hollie. Taylor let out a soft sigh of relief. She had to admit, it was nice to see someone who ran after her and cared about her.

"Are you ok?" Hollie asked quietly.

Taylor nodded and hugged her back. "I'll be fine," she replied though a bit shaky.

"Bryan didn't mean it," Hollie said.

"I know," she replied.

"What's it like? Being pregnant?" Hollie wondered.

"It sucks," she answered. "You're sick all the time, you have these crazy mood swings, there's all these cravings…"

"I don't think I wanna get pregnant," Hollie replied.

Taylor nodded, "Just remember that when you get older. It's not right for a teenager to have a baby."

"So why are you and Chad?" she asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. She took a breath. "We just like doing things the hard way, I guess."

"Chad likes to do things the hard way. It's why he never does his homework," Hollie giggled.

Taylor let a chuckle escape her. "He has to make up for his other flaws, I suppose."

"Like laziness and his hair?" she asked.

"I happen to love his hair," Taylor admitted.

"He loves your hair, too. I caught him playing with it sometimes," Hollie replied.

Taylor's face turned red and she tucked some hair behind her ear. This must have been what it was like to have a sister; saying these cute yet embarrassing things and making someone look like a nut in front of their significant other. Taylor liked this sister-esque relationship she had with Hollie and she knew she was close with Chad as well. The three of them blended together nicely. Taylor couldn't help but wonder how long it would last now.

Hollie rested her head on Taylor's shoulder and broke the silence. "I think Chad's excited bout the baby. Or else he wouldn't be getting his butt kicked by Bryan," she said. "How does he even make a baby anyway?"

This wasn't the kind of conversation Taylor didn't want to have with Hollie. Heck, she didn't even know how she'd talk with her own child when the time came. "I think you should ask your mom," she answered quickly.

"But you know how he did," Hollie replied.

"Ok, I think that's enough of that," Taylor blurt out. She blushed wildly and moved away from Hollie a little. This girl was good at treating Taylor like her sister; she gave her that.

Hollie giggled. She sat up on her knees and looked at Taylor expectantly. "So what do you think it is?"

"I think we'll find out next month," Taylor answered.

"I hope it's a girl," she replied. "I'm tired of being stuck with brothers all the time."

"We sort of do have a name picked out for a girl, a middle name at least," Taylor admitted, "but I just want a healthy baby."

"You and the baby are gonna stay here, right?" Hollie asked. "Cause I don't want you to leave."

"I'd like to stay, if I can," Taylor admitted. "But I don't want to intrude."

"We can kick one of my brothers out," Hollie smiled. "My room's right in between theirs and they snore a lot."

"Really? Are you sure you don't snore, too?" Taylor teased, playing with one of Hollie's pigtails.

Hollie giggled. "I'm no snorer!"

"I think you are."

"Am not!"

"Are so."

"Am not!"

"Are so."

"Hey here comes Chad!"

Hollie jumped to her feet when Chad stepped out of the house. She ran over to him and practically dragged him to Taylor. She pulled him to the ground so he was sitting next to Taylor. Hollie then sat off on the side, waiting eagerly to see what the couple would do.

"Hollie can you go inside?" Chad asked.

"No, I wanna see you guys make out," she pouted.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Hollie, go," he said in a more strict tone. "We'll be right in."

"Lemme see," she begged.

"Now," Chad repeated.

Hollie pursed her lips. She folded her arms and then ran back into the house.

Taylor bit her lip. "She has such an imagination, doesn't she?"

"She really does," Chad agreed. He turned to Taylor and moved some of her hair away from her face. "Are you ok?"

As much as Taylor loved it when he touched her hair, she was only reminded of how much she was hurting. "How could Bryan say that?"

"Bry's a d*ck," Chad answered simply.

"But it doesn't give him the right to make assumptions like that," Taylor replied. She opened her mouth to speak but chose her words carefully before continuing. "One of the reasons my dad and I never got along was because he chose women over me. And I swore I would never turn into one of those women. How do you think it feels to be told I'm a sl*t after being with only one guy?"

"Sucky?" Chad guessed.

"To say the least," she nodded with a sigh.

Chad took her hand in his. "Then don't listen to what Bryan said. If I questioned it I would've said something. But you never gave me a reason to doubt you so why should I now?"

Taylor shrugged. "I guess if you chose your brother over me or if you believed him."

"Does this look like I believe him?" Chad asked. He pressed his lips against hers in a brief kiss. But it was enough to get the message through.

"I guess it doesn't," she answered with a smile.

Chad extended his hand to help Taylor up. "How about we go inside then? My mom probably wants to talk to us."

"I don't know…" she pulled away slightly.

"She's not gonna be mad," Chad promised.

"How do you know that?" Taylor responded.

"I don't," Chad confessed. "But can you trust me?"

He'd done a bit to prove himself to Taylor, more than she expected. How could she say no so easily? There was no sense in avoiding it now anyway; the secret was out so they had to face it. Taylor reluctantly took Chad's hand and followed him inside. After they closed the door behind them Taylor quickly came face to face with Chad's mom. She had her arms folded and held a disappointed look on her face, but the last emotion she appeared to have was anger. Taylor could see that, but the disappointment was enough for her. She looked at the ground in guilt.

Mrs. Danforth sighed. "I'm not going to yell at you. I'm telling you that now. What I want to know is why. What happened to using protection?"

Chad opened his mouth to respond but his mother held a hand up.

"Let Taylor answer, dear. I want to hear from her."

Taylor sighed. "Just twice…two times we didn't," she explained softly, rubbing her arm. "And the first time was enough for it to happen."

"So how far along are you?" his mother asked.

"Around seventeen weeks," she answered sheepishly. "I have an ultrasound at the end of the month."

"What are your plans?" Mrs. Danforth asked. "If you're keeping it then you need to start saving money and look for jobs. You'll have to think about what you're doing for school, maybe take some parenting classes to prepare…"

"I know," Taylor said quietly. "I've already resigned from the Decathlon team. I quit Chem Club and I'm going to tell the student council that I'm withdrawing my nomination for student body president."

"Well now hold on a minute, having a baby doesn't mean you have to give up your entire life," Mrs. Danforth replied. "Sweetie, it's senior year, you should be able to enjoy yourself. Have at least one thing to call your own. If you want to stay after school a day a week next year for a club meeting it's far from me to stop you. I'll be happy to watch the baby for an hour."

"With all due respect, Mrs. Danforth, I'm not in any position to ask you for help. I know I'll have to give up a lot. It's my child and I'll take the responsibilities I need to so I can raise it. I don't want to burden you with doing my job," Taylor said.

"This is my grandbaby we're talking about, watching it would absolutely not be a burden," Mrs. Danforth insisted. "Why would you even think that?"

"Because that's all I was to my dad," Taylor blurt out. Her breathing became heavier and her eyes grew watery. Taylor wasn't sure if it was a touchy subject for herself she brought on or if it was just the mood swings. But she was starting to show more vulnerability than she was used to. "My mom died when I was six because of cancer, but all I've heard my dad say is that it's my fault. I don't want to hear someone else say I screwed up their life or that I'm screwing up my life. I made my bed and now I have to lie in it."

Chad stood behind Taylor and wrapped his arms around her tight. It slowed her breathing but her voice was still chocked up form all the emotions.

"I just don't wanna disappoint anyone," she continued softly. "I didn't wanna let anyone down. And that was why I didn't say anything for almost four months. I couldn't even tell Chad until I was two and a half or three months along because I was scared of what he would say. And I was scared of what you would say because you've been so accepting of me and you're the closest thing I've had to a mom and I don't wanna lose that…"

Mrs. Danforth didn't let her go on anymore. She wrapped her arms tight around Taylor and gently shushed her. She waited a minute for Taylor to calm down before speaking. "I'm going to tell you something right now, young lady," she said lightly, "I'm not happy but I'm far from disappointed. You're absolutely right, you have to take responsibility now. And it's far from me to change your mind. All I ask is that you cooperate. I agree with you, I can't be raising your child. But I have no problem helping you. All I ask is that you at least start looking for a job, you and Chad. When you get a job, we'll go from there." She pulled away lightly and her eyes met with Taylor's. "If your father won't support you, I will. This mother-daughter relationship that you want, that we have, the baby won't change that. You'll still be like a member of this family. The baby will just make it more real. Things will get harder now, but not impossible. Getting pregnant doesn't mean you've let anyone down. It just means you _can't_ let anyone down. Understand?"

Taylor nodded.

Chad looked up at his mom, arms still around Taylor. "Mom, I already showed Taylor the room upstairs. Is it ok if we fix it up, make it brand new?"

Mrs. Danforth bit her lip and thought about it. "Well it would be nice to see some new life in that room…" she confessed. "Tell you what; I have a day off tomorrow. Let me clean the room a little. It'll take a while, but I would like to do it at my own pace, if that's ok with you."

Chad and Taylor nodded.

"I think we need to let the news sink in a little. So we'll talk more about this later in the week. In the meantime I need to get dinner ready," Mrs. Danforth said. She eyed Chad, "No more fights with your brother. I need you alive for this baby."

"Seriously, I can take Bryan. I almost had him going," Chad insisted.

Taylor shook her head, as did Mrs. Danforth. "No, son, you didn't." She looked to Taylor again, "As for you, remember what I said."

Taylor nodded. "I will. Thank you, Mrs. Danforth."

"Mom," she corrected with a smile. "And one more thing. Before you go worrying about what everyone's going to say, think about who has his arms around you right now." With that said, she went into the kitchen, leaving Chad and Taylor alone again.

Chad smiled and rested his head on her shoulder. "I told you she wouldn't be mad," he whispered into her ear.

Taylor smiled. Chad was right; his mom wasn't mad. She was far from it. The talk put her in a much better mood and she didn't feel so worried anymore. Taylor heard what she hoped to hear, what she needed to hear. She turned around to face Chad, whose arms remained comfortably tight around her. She looked into his eyes and Mrs. Danforth's words seconds ago ran through her head. "Think about who has his arms around you right now." She did. She thought about how supportive he was being. How worried he was about her. How lucky she was to have him. And she cuddled as close to him as she could in his embrace, resting her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around his neck. And she never wanted to let go.

* * *

This is one of the chapters I actually liked how it turned out. It was fun to write and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. The hardest part was probably naming Chad's siblings. xD I decided to name Chad's brother Bryan cause Bryan Danforth sounded nice and it was also kind of a shout-out to one of the other Chaylor stories that used Bryan as a name somewhere for something. 0=) As for the name Hollie, I don't know where I got it from. I thought it was a nice name and it was maybe influenced a little by the last season of American Idol. I know, I have no life. XD And of course now as I'm typing this author's note and posting the chapter I'm watching Cars 2 so I can't even think of what else I wanna say in here. Ummm I got six chapters of my new story written and like I said, 20something written for this story so there'll probably be another update with this story before any one else. I'm hoping to write more and I'm also updating my HSM blog on a daily basis which probably isn't the best idea but I'm doing it anyway. xD Ok I'm gonna shut up now cause I'm probably gonna type a bunch of stuff that I don't know what i'm saying while i watch the movie.


	11. Chapter 11

I thought I was gonna upload this chapter last week, or at least this past weekend, but I guess the time kinda got away from me. So yeah, like I might have said, sadly no Chaylor in this chapter and it's all about Chad and Troy. Enjoy.  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the idea of 16 and Pregnant.**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

_I'm really relieved I told Chad's family that I'm pregnant. His mom took it better than I thought and I'm glad it didn't jeopardize her view of me. I decided to take her advice and think about what I'm going to do next year. I still need to talk to the student council and tell them I'm dropping out of the election but our next meeting isn't until late April to prepare. So now that I've resigned from the Scholastic Decathlon and put Gabriella in charge I'm going to talk to the Chem Club. I decided to tell them that I'll finish as president this year but I'll only be there once a month – maybe – throughout senior year. Once that's done I can focus on finding a job. I just hope I'm not the only one looking because, even if I can work at least until I give birth, I'm going to need help from Chad to bring in the money._

"Wow," Troy said in disbelief as he stared at the sonogram picture.

Chad nodded in agreement, sitting across from his friend at the Boltons' kitchen table. Chad finally decided it was time to come clean to Troy about why he was being so distant. He started out by saying he wasn't sure if he'd be staying on the basketball team next year. When Troy questioned him, Chad responded that he had a lot going on and there was a ton of preparing to do. When Troy seemed even more confused, Chad handed him the fifteen-week sonogram picture that Taylor gave him. It was almost amusing to Chad, actually; he didn't think he'd seen Troy's bright blue eyes so wide open for so long. Of course after a couple of minutes it did get old. Chad rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers in front of Troy's face.

"This is…. Wow…" Troy seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I know," Chad nodded.

Troy raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you nervous?"

Chad scoffed. "Are you kidding, man? I'm freaking out."

"You're doing a damn good job of hiding it," Troy observed.

"Yeah well, I guess I've been practicing," he answered. "I've been trying to stay calm around Tay. I think the only times she's seen me freak out were when she told me, and right before we told my mom."

"How'd that go?" Troy inquired.

"Better than I thought it would," Chad admitted. "I mean, I didn't think my mom would resort to kicking us out or anything. But I did picture her yelling more than she did."

"How are Bryan and Hollie taking it?" Troy wondered.

"Hollie won't shut up," Chad laughed.

"The kid never shuts up," he reminded him.

"I know, but she's asking questions about everything," Chad said.

"Is she excited, at least?" Troy asked, even though it was probably a stupid question.

"She's excited about Taylor possibly moving in with us," he answered.

"Tay's moving in?" Troy raised an eyebrow.

"Well…not exactly," Chad scratched his head. "We kinda…haven't talked about that yet. She hasn't even told her dad."

"How much longer do you think she can get away with hiding it?" Troy asked.

"Don't know," he admitted. "I just hope she tells him soon."

"What'd Bryan say?" Troy wondered.

"That we're idiots. More or less," he answered. "He even went so far as to question if it was mine."

Troy laughed. "You're not serious."

Chad gave a nod and a serious look – an actual serious look.

Troy's face fell. "Holy crap."

"I know," he nodded.

"What'd you say?" Troy asked.

"I might've…punched him," Chad admitted.

Troy sighed. "Dude, you cannot go punching out your twenty-year-old brother. If my parents caught me punching my twenty-five-year-old brothers, I'd be toast."

Chad almost forgot about that; Troy's parents had kids young. Why didn't he think of this before? Chad was already like Troy's adopted brother, so his parents would be the perfect people to go to for advice. But maybe that'd be a bit pushy; even Chad knew he had limits. It was best if he worked his way up to the advice part.

"How are Trenton and Travis anyway?" Chad wondered.

"Trent calls everyday. He's enjoying his hotel position in Seattle, trying to work his way up to manager," Troy answered. "Travis still can't figure out what the heck he wants to do. I think this is his second year of grad school."

"Didn't he change his major like six times or something?" Chad asked.

"Seven," Troy corrected. "And he had a pregnancy scare with his ex-girlfriend nine times."

Chad's eyes widened. "Nine?"

"You think you're careless for forgetting two times? Try forgetting all the time," Troy answered. He shook his head and let a shudder escape him, "Mom and Dad flipped out. They were so scared Travis was gonna repeat their mistake."

"Mistake?" Chad echoed. Suddenly asking for their advice didn't sound like such a good idea.

"Well, yeah. Of having kids young. They said if they could have waited a couple of years and then had Trent and Travis exactly the same, they would've done it. But it didn't happen that way," he answered.

"So having a kid young is a mistake then?" Chad questioned.

Troy hit his head. "That's not what I meant," he said quickly.

"Then what did you mean?" Chad questioned.

"The timing sucked. Dad said when Mom found out she was pregnant he had a full scholarship and Mom was set for Banting in Canada. And they both had to give things up and struggle," Troy explained. "You and Tay don't have any scholarships yet. Nothing is guaranteed. You don't have to worry about saying, 'yeah, school of my dreams, I'll definitely be there next August' and then turn them down two months later with no back-up plan."

Chad couldn't say he liked Troy's wording. It made him feel kind of irresponsible. And with all the trouble Chad had gotten into growing up, what with the detentions and laziness, he didn't like being told he was irresponsible. Sure, he could slip up a few times, but at least he tried now. He learned from most of his mistakes. And suddenly being told by his best friend that he was screwing up made him feel like a bad kid again. But if anything did make him feel better, it was Troy's explanation. And Chad had to admit; his friend did have a point. While he had no doubt that Taylor would get a scholarship to any college no matter what, his future wasn't so certain. So at least he could for sure plan around the baby.

"I mean, I guess you have a point, man," Chad finally spoke. "Just…don't put me down like that. It kinda sucks."

"No problem," Troy nodded.

Chad stuck the sonogram picture back in his wallet. "So you think it'd be a bad idea to ask them for advice?"

"No, it's a great idea," he promised. "But I don't think you should open up with that. They know you're smarter than people give you credit for but sometimes they just need proof. So maybe…I don't know…tell them after you get a job? At least it'll show them you're preparing."

Chad nodded. "That's what my mom said, too. That she wants to see me and Tay get jobs and at least start saving up."

"Is she gonna help at all?" Troy wondered.

"I think so, but it's probably gonna take a while. We've got a room for the nursery in our house but Mom only started cleaning it last week and it's still got a long way to go," he said.

"She's still not over the abortion?" Troy asked. Troy was the only person outside of Chad's family that knew prior to Taylor.

"Not entirely, I don't think," Chad admitted. "I think a baby would fill the void that's been there for a while, but I don't want Mom to feel like she's missed out on anything. So I'm gonna give her some space. But we gotta get it all set up by June, cause we think the due date's between the last week of June and the first week of July. At least, we hope it is, cause to have the baby right before finals would suck. So if the room's not cleared by the end of March I might have to help out."

"You're a good son, Chad," Troy smiled. He playfully nudged his friend's shoulder. He then raised an eyebrow curiously. "So your mom, brother and sister know. And Taylor's dad doesn't know. What about your dad?"

Chad leaned back in his chair. "He doesn't even know Taylor. He's met her twice. Maybe."

"Aren't you gonna tell him?" he wondered.

"Dude, it's been like seven years. That's how long my dad's been traveling. He didn't come home for Christmas this year, didn't call us on New Year's…the last birthday card he sent me was when I was in seventh grade, he barely made Bryan's high school graduation…I don't even think he knows anything about Hollie cause hell, she doesn't know squat about him. He pretty much walked out on us after the abortion, so why should we tell him?" Chad responded. His voice started off sour, like it was just some bitter feelings. But the more he thought about his father missing, the angrier he got. As far as Chad was considered, his father walked out. Mr. Danforth never even wanted the abortion for his wife; he was dead set against it. Chad stayed up one night overhearing his parents argue about it. That was his only clear memory of it; everything else surrounding that tragedy in his family was hazy. Sometimes Chad blamed his dad for all the trouble he got into. With every detention, warning and those two suspensions he got when he was younger, Mr. Danforth never showed up to talk to his teachers let alone find out why his own son was acting out. All Chad wanted was attention from him and it was never received.

Chad turned his head and glanced at the calendar across the kitchen, completely tuning out whatever it was Troy was saying. Valentine's Day was this weekend. When was this last time his dad ever sent his mom a card for it? Every year Chad, Bryan and Hollie would chip in and buy something nice for their mom. And for the last three years, Chad had Taylor to celebrate with. It got him thinking about what he should do for her this year. With all the hatred he'd built up over the years towards his dad, Chad was learning about the kind of parent he wanted to be. And it sure as heck wasn't anything he learned from his own father. This would be his and Taylor's last Valentine's Day alone. He had to do something special. And even more so, he wanted to prove to her that he was going to be a good dad. And aside from taking the time to treat her like the queen he saw her as, the best present Chad could give her was a job. He was going to go to every place with a 'now hiring' sign, fill out as many applications as possible and do whatever he had to do to secure a job by the weekend.

"Chad," Troy repeated for what seemed like the tenth time. He groaned, "Dude! Are you listening or not?"

"Huh? Who? Wha?" Chad's head snapped in Troy's direction.

"Forget it, you're obviously not listening," he sighed.

"Sorry, man," Chad apologized. "Must've spaced out a little."

"A little?" Troy questioned.

"A lot," Chad corrected. He rose from his seat. "Anyway, I should get going. Thanks for letting me get some stuff off my chest."

"No problem," Troy shook his head. "If there's anything I can do, you know where to reach me."

Troy was right; Chad knew they'd do anything for each other. And while they could act like brothers and get on each other's nerves sometimes, they always had each other's backs. "Actually…could you maybe do one more thing for me?" Chad asked.

"Sure man, name it," Troy nodded.

Chad sat back down for the moment. "You and Gabs already know about the baby. But when Taylor left her smarty-pants team, she kinda had to give an answer. And she ended up telling them. And I'm kinda worried," Chad admitted.

"Why's that?" Troy wondered.

"I mean, I'm ok with some of them knowing. Like I don't think Martha would spill the beans to anyone," Chad explained. "But I heard from Gabriella that Timothy overreacted. Big time. And I don't know how cool everyone else on the team was. So is there any chance you could make sure none of them spread the word?"

"Tell me what to do," Troy said instantly.

"I don't think anything's been going around the school. Yet. And I kinda wanna keep it that way. I think Taylor does, too, cause she has every right to tell people or let them find out when she's ready. Someone else shouldn't be doing it. So if you maybe hear any of her nerds – or team members, I guess – talking about her or maybe mentioning something that sounds suspicious…" he explained.

"I'll step in. You can count on me," he promised.

The boys bumped fists. "Thanks man," Chad grinned.

* * *

So we got another chapter with Chad's point of view. This was one of the easier chapters to write, I guess cause Troy and Chad's friendship is shown so well in the movies. But, there's another Troy and Chad chapter that was more fun to write than this. You'll see what i mean later. Like when we get past chapter 20. Yes, I wrote that far ahead. I think the current chapter I'm working on is 29. I've been trying for the past two weeks to write that chapter as well as chapter 7 of Everyday. Well, I finally got the latter done tonight. Didn't come out quite the way I wanted and it's possibly taking the story in another direction, but I have plans to make up for that later on. As for this story, I think sometimes I have too many ideas for my own good. Of course most of them take place after the baby is born and might not even be seen since I still don't know when I'm going to stop the story. I've thought about ending this like a 16 and Pregnant episode, where the girl recaps about how her life has changed and how hard it is to be a teen mom, but that takes place a couple of months after the baby's born which I think is way too soon...unless it ends at say, 6 months and then there's a sequel done called Teen Mom. I don't really think I wanna take it that far, but it's up to you guys. I'm horrible at making decisions and I'm even worse at keeping more than one story going on at once. So anyway the next chapter will definitely have Chaylor and maybe I'll get it up some time this week, especially since I could definitely use some inspiration for writing. Hope this brightened up your Mondays and I'll be back! :D


	12. Chapter 12

It's been a while since I updated. Heck, it's been a while since I even got any writing done! But I decided to post the next chapter of 16 and Pregnant so i hope you guys enjoy!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM.**

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**Chapter Twelve**

_It's February 15__th__ and even though Valentine's Day was yesterday, Chad's taking me out for dinner tonight. I could really use a break; I've been filling out job applications non-stop and I haven't heard back from anyplace. And I know I probably shouldn't have, but I managed to find enough money stashed away in my room to get Chad something. We need to save up all we can find, but Chad's taking me out and he's been really supportive so it's the least I can do._

"So how did it go yesterday?" Taylor wondered after she and Chad sat at the diner.

"It went fine. Bryan and Hollie and I chipped in and took my mom to the spa. She really liked it," Chad answered. He added a more boastful manner, "And Bry and I didn't fight once."

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "In front of your mom?" she finished for him.

"Ok, we had one fight before we took her," Chad admitted. He saw Taylor's face fall. "But it wasn't about you."

"I get it," she replied. "It was your fault, you were the irresponsible one, you should have known better and talked some sense into me…"

"It's like you were actually there," Chad let out a chuckle. He didn't like hearing the same things over and over again, but he was amazed at how well his girlfriend knew him and his family.

"I'm sorry," Taylor apologized.

"Trust me, you're not the one they're mad at," Chad promised. "I'm kinda jealous they all took your side."

Taylor playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

Chad smirked. "I have half a mind to bite that tongue right now."

"Not here you don't," she replied.

"You're right. I'll just let you order anything you want," he said.

Taylor lowered her voice, "Chad I'm eating for two now. Do you know how much that's going to be?"

He lowered his voice as well. "Yeah well this could be our last time out before it comes. And I know it's been hard for you so I wanted to treat you."

"That's sweet, but I couldn't possibly order half the menu now," Taylor replied.

Chad thought for a minute. Maybe he needed to let Taylor know she wasn't the only one feeling this way. Maybe then she'd be more willing to share things with him. "Hey, I get it. What you're going through with my family."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I mean the way you were so worried about that they would think," he explained. "I talked to Troy this week and told him. But I didn't tell his folks. I'm kinda worried they're gonna jump down my throat and have my head for it…kinda like what you thought my mom would do."

Taylor sighed. "Chad, they're more like part of your family than anything else. I hardly think they would see you in such a negative light. I was worried because I'm not part of your family and they could have just as easily told me to get lost or that you should stop seeing me. You've been part of Troy's family since you were little, so they have less of a right to kick you out of that."

"Yeah well it still doesn't stop me from thinking about it," Chad replied. "Do you know how many times Coach grilled me cause I missed practice and was stuck in detention? That's nothing compared to this."

"But you're still a family," she reminded him.

Chad looked at her and smiled. "So are you."

The waiter came over shortly after to take their orders. Normally Chad was the one who ordered a lot of food so it was a bit strange to have their positions reversed. And although Taylor tried to refrain from ordering more than two courses, Chad spoke up and added two more to that. The waiter returned less than five minutes later with their drinks.

"Thanks," Taylor smiled to Chad once the waiter left again.

"No problem. You said you were eating for two anyway," he smiled back. "But I get half the chicken sandwich you ordered."

"Well if that's all I have to give you in return, consider it yours," she replied.

Chad smiled. "So, you never told me how your day was yesterday."

Taylor scoffed. "Please, you actually want to hear about my horrible morning sickness?"

"I thought it was getting better," Chad said.

"I think it's revenge because I haven't had much of it in two weeks," Taylor answered.

"Maybe the baby doesn't like you," Chad teased.

"Excuse me, but I've been carrying it for four months. What have you been doing?" she retorted.

"Oh nothing," Chad said innocently, "just held your hair back over the garbage can, rubbed your back, took you to your doctor's appointment…"

"We took a bus there," she reminded him.

"But I paid both ways for you so technically I did take you," Chad replied.

"That's like a dollar. It means nothing," she rolled her eyes.

"Ok then, let's try this again. How was your day yesterday?" Chad asked.

Taylor took a sip of her water before resting her hands in her lap. "It was fine," she answered. "You know…except for the morning sickness," she added quickly.

Chad raised an eyebrow. He noticed she didn't look at him when she answered. She wasn't biting her nails or anything, but somehow Chad was getting the feeling that extra meetings with the toilet weren't all that happened. He reached his hand under the table and rested it on hers, only to feel her flinch. When Taylor instinctively took her hand away, Chad rested it lightly on her leg and she flinched again.

"Tay did you hurt your knee or something?" he wondered.

"Yeah…I fell in the shower yesterday," she answered.

"It feels more like a bump," Chad noticed.

"I guess I hit it pretty hard," Taylor replied almost too quickly.

Chad was puzzled. He knew he shouldn't doubt her; she never gave him a reason to. But he couldn't help but get a bad feeling about it.

Taylor sighed. She took Chad's hand off her leg and held it. "It's nothing, it really isn't. And if it was anything worse, I would tell you."

Chad looked at her expectantly. "Promise?"

It took Taylor a moment to respond. "Promise," she nodded.

Chad let out a sigh of relief. She sounded sincere and he believed her. So the best thing to do was not dwell on it. "You had me really worried there for a minute."

"Sorry," she apologized. She let go of his hand and reached into her purse. She pulled out a small wrapped box and sat it on the table. "Maybe this will make up for it?"

"You didn't have to get me anything," Chad said taking the box.

"I wanted to," she replied.

Chad eagerly opened the box and pulled out a small, soft basketball. "This is cute," he said with a smile, tossing it in his hand lightly.

Taylor smiled at his reaction. "I know it sounds cheesy but I was thinking I know how much you love basketball. And I thought that maybe when you're spending time with the baby it'd be a good way to bond with it. And you could start teaching him or her how to play."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I like cheese," Chad smiled. He reached over the table and took her hand in his, then placed a kiss on it.

"That's all I get?" she pouted.

"You'll get more later," Chad winked. He put the ball back in the box and then rested it next to his seat.

"So, do I get a present, too?" Taylor wondered.

"Actually, I kinda left it at my house," Chad answered. "Can I walk you there after dinner and give it to you?"

"Of course," she nodded.

Dinner was eaten in a comfortable silence. They had a couple of small conversations and teased each other with the food a little. Once dinner was finished and the check was paid Chad and Taylor headed out of the diner. It was mild for a February evening, nice enough to walk in but still a little breezy. Chad stopped just outside the diner to take off his blazer and rest it on Taylor's shoulders. He slipped his arm around her, about to walk but Taylor stopped him. She sat down at the bench nearby and took one of her shoes off.

"You ok?" Chad asked sitting next to her.

Taylor nodded and rubbed her foot. "Yeah, my feet just hurt a little."

Chad glanced at them, "They look a little swollen."

"I think it's a side effect," she answered. "They're not that bad."

"We can take the bus, there's a stop a block away," Chad offered.

"No, really, I can walk," she insisted. Taylor put her shoe back on and stood up.

Chad raised an eyebrow. He took the opportunity to try and get a look at her knee. There was definitely a bump, but he couldn't tell how big it was. Or maybe it was swollen. He doubted it came from falling in the shower. When he tried to get a better look at it, Taylor much have noticed because she quickly took off his blazer and rested it against her stomach. The sleeves fell over her knee so Chad couldn't get the better look he wanted.

"Is everything ok?" Taylor asked.

Chad cursed in his mind; he knew she noticed his looks. "Yeah. Let's go."

They resumed walking until Chad stopped them at the bus stop a block away.

"Why are we stopping?" Taylor asked.

"Because we're taking the bus," he answered.

"Chad, I'm fine. I can make the walk," she insisted.

"But your feet hurt. Sit down," Chad replied already sitting at the bench.

"It's not that bad. Your house is fifteen, maybe twenty minutes away. I can make that," she replied.

"Taylor, sit," he insisted.

"No," she replied.

"Tay, c'mon," Chad insisted. He wrapped his arms around her waist and playfully pulled her onto his lap.

Taylor giggled but struggled to get out of his grasp. "No, I wanna get up!"

"No, you're too comfortable," Chad complained practically using her head as a pillow.

"Chad, let me up," Taylor giggled sitting up.

"Fine, you can use my head as a pillow," Chad gave in, resting his head under hers.

"I don't want-" she started. She cut herself off when she sighed contently against Chad's soft hair.

"See, isn't that better?" Chad asked with a smile. He heard her let out a muffled 'mhm'. Chad chuckled lightly. He let his eyes wander down to her slightly bulging belly. He traced light circles around it with his finger. He couldn't help but wonder what it'd look like or whom it'd take after. Chad tried not to show too much concern or worry for the baby because he was sure they would figure everything out, but it didn't stop him from thinking about it. The thought did scare him, but not enough to make him want to run away. Part of him still wondered if Taylor thought he would run, though; if that were why she didn't always open up to him. He hoped that his gift to her tonight would be enough to prove otherwise. His thoughts were interrupted when the bus pulled up. He took his basketball and went on the bus with Taylor. The ride was brief; they were probably on there only ten minutes. Once they got off the bus, Chad's house was only four blocks away. Occasionally Chad noticed Taylor rub one of her feet, though he couldn't tell under the minimal light now how swollen they were. At least it was only a side effect. When they got to Chad's house he offered to carry her upstairs, but Taylor politely refused and went up to his room on her own and then sat at the edge of his bed.

"Is anyone else home?" she wondered, taking off her shoes and giving her feet another rub.

Chad set the toy basketball on his dresser. "Bryan went to the bar with his friends. And I think Mom took Hollie to the mall."

"Any idea what time they'll be back?" she inquired.

"I don't think we'll see Bryan till breakfast," Chad answered. "And it usually takes a while to get Hollie out of the mall cause as soon as she gets out of one toy store she runs into another one."

"She didn't do that the last time I went with her," Taylor said.

"You offered to buy her a soft pretzel. And she actually listens to you," Chad pointed out. "I think Mom wishes Hollie liked to go to the mall with her to shop, though. She doesn't really get to do that with me and my brother."

"I think she's just happy that everyone is close and gets along with each other," Taylor said.

"Yeah," Chad nodded in agreement. "We try really hard not to fight in front of her cause I'm sure that's the last thing she wants."

"How much of that do you think is going to change when the baby comes?" she asked curiously.

Chad sighed. "We're probably gonna fight a lot more. And get on each other's nerves a lot. But I don't think it'll get to the point where we wanna kill each other or something."

"You have a really good support system, Chad. I don't want to mess that up," she said.

"Hey, I'm the mess-up in the relationship. Not you," Chad told her with a smile. He sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Stop worrying about everything."

Taylor looked at him doubtfully. "Just because you tell me to stop worrying doesn't mean I will."

"Then maybe your V-Day gift'll help," Chad suggested. He got up and went to his desk. He opened one of the drawers and then pulled out a sheet. He handed it to Taylor, who raised an eyebrow. She unfolded the paper and read it.

"Monday from 3:30 to 8, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 6 to 1…what is this?" she asked.

Chad smiled and sat back next to her. "That's my work schedule for this week."

Taylor's eyes widened. He jaw dropped and she looked at him. "Are you saying…?"

Chad smiled and nodded. "I scored a job."

"Oh my God, Chad's that's amazing!" Taylor exclaimed. She wrapped his arms around him and he spun her around. "Is this the gift you were talking about?"

"I wanted to get a job for you," he nodded.

Taylor pulled away slightly and looked at him.

"I wanted to show you that I can do this and that you don't have to do everything. I know you said you'd get a job but that's just gonna take time away from school and stuff and I know that's important to you. I'm the guy and I gotta provide no matter what so that's what I'm gonna do," he explained.

Taylor looked speechless, almost as though she didn't expect this much from him. "You…" She shook her head and then looked at the schedule again.

Chad awaited her response. He tilted his head, trying to read her expression. He couldn't tell what she was going to say. He glanced from the corner of his eye at the schedule. Aside from Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Chad would also be working all day Saturday and Sunday morning. Chad knew it was a lot to take on and it meant spending even less time with Taylor than he wanted to before the baby came, but if he didn't start fast he might get lazy. He met with her eyes when she looked up at him.

"You're taking on all these hours for me?" she asked, her voice soft and shocked. She looked down at her stomach and then back at Chad. "For us?"

Chad smiled and nodded. "Yeah. For you both." He placed a kiss on her lips and then her stomach.

* * *

Just a mushy Chaylor chapter. I don't really know what else to say about it. Except that it felt weird for me to write a Valentines Day centric chapter because the last thing I like to think about on that day is mushiness. So hopefully I did it some justice. Like I said, I haven't gotten much writing done. I think over the last month I got one chapter of Everyday written, which i do need to start updating more. I don't think I added anything to this story, but I know I'm nearing chapter 30. I would have liked to do some writing and update sooner, but these last couple of weeks have been crazy. For the record, I did start writing a Chaylor oneshot and i have an idea for another oneshot so I'm hoping to work on those and get them up...eventually. But I hope this was a nice addition to your weekends. Feel free to let me know what you think, and I'm sorry about the long wait! I promise it'll be a shorter wait next time and if I can finish a chapter, I'll even post two chapters within a few days of each other! Happy Saturday everyone! :)


	13. Chapter 13

I have no idea how long it's been since I've updated, if it was 2 weeks or 3 weeks or whatever but I figured tonight was the night to add another chapter. It's a short one, but it's still a chapter. And if you could just stick around and read the author's note at the bottom when you're done, that'd be great cause I'd love some opinions here. XD  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical, the characters, and I did not come up with the whole 16 and Pregnant idea. **

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

_Chad's been working hard at his new job so I've barely seen him this week. The few times I have seen him he was exhausted. I think he's still trying to get used to his new schedule. He's working at Stop and Shop, which should really help because he gets a small discount and we could really use that when we buy baby supplies. I've gone to a job interview almost every day this week but they've all turned me away. Only one place said I was overqualified to work for them; every other place didn't want to hire me, probably because I'm pregnant. I'm not going to let it bother me, but it would be nice if I could bring in a little money, too. So I'm going to meet with my guidance counselor. Maybe she can give me some advice on how to juggle school, a baby, and money._

After school Taylor walked into one of the school's offices. Gabriella had offered to go with her, but Taylor insisted that this was something she did on her own. Though it was kind of scary to Taylor; she hadn't met with her guidance counselor about anything aside from choosing classes.

Taylor glanced at the clock; her counselor should be calling her in any minute. Taylor looked down nervously. She quickly fiddled with her skirt in attempt to cover her knee. It had been a close call with Chad last weekend. She thought for sure he was going to question her more about how she hurt her knee. She told him she fell in the shower; it wasn't even close to the truth. The night before, on Valentine's Day, Taylor had been going to the refrigerator to make something for dinner. She found some leftover ham and decided to make it into a sandwich. She wasn't even half way through making it when her dad stormed in and questioned where she got the food. He started throwing a fit, saying it was his food and if Taylor wanted anything she had to buy it herself. He ended up throwing her against the table; it wasn't too far from where she was standing so it didn't phase her much. What ended up hurting her was a picture that fell off the wall and bumped her leg. She was relieved that Chad hadn't found out, though she did feel guilty about lying to him. She knew he was only worrying and it wasn't fair to hide the truth from him. But she's handled the abuse from her father for ten years; she could deal with one more. She just hoped that the Danforths would let the baby live in their house. As long as her dad was still around, Taylor was not letting an innocent baby in there.

"Taylor, you can come in now."

Taylor returned to reality at the sound of her guidance counselor. She was amazed she heard her, actually; with how little Taylor saw the counselor the voice was nearly unrecognizable. She took her books and followed the middle-aged woman into the room. Taylor closed the door behind her and sat across from her counselor. She took a moment to fix her skirt once more after setting her books on the desk.

"I must say, Ms. McKessie, I'm surprised to see you here," the guidance counselor said. She was a friendly woman. Her blond hair was always tied up in a bun and even though she was young, she had a tendency to wear older-looking glasses. She was a bit pudgy, but it came from her having a lot of kids. Taylor recalled the woman being pregnant with twins last year, so some of the baby weight must have stuck. The weight wasn't something that concerned Taylor as much as everything else.

"I know, Mrs. Grackle," Taylor answered. "But I needed to talk to you about something."

"Is it about your classes next year?" Mrs. Grackle wondered. "I thought we had those all set up. No matter, I'm sure we can switch one of your classes if you'd like."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," Taylor shook her head. "But I do need some help preparing for next year."

"I'm not sure what I can do to help. I'm only hear to help you choose your classes and set you up with the right colleges," she answered.

"But what if I have to juggle my classes with something else?" Taylor asked. "Or if…if I don't go to college?"

Mrs. Grackle stared at her wide-eyed. "I…I'm not quite sure I understand," she stammered. "Ms. McKessie, you have phenomenal grades. You already have teachers writing you recommendation letters for college. You are one year away from attending Yale. Why…why on earth would you skip college?"

"I don't know for sure if I'd skip college," Taylor quickly corrected herself. "But I wouldn't be able to go to Yale. I wouldn't be able to go to MIT or Harvard or any school outside of New Mexico."

"All you've said since our first meeting was that you wanted to go to Yale," Mrs. Grackle said. "What changed now?"

"Because I-" Taylor took a moment to lower her voice. She didn't want to overreact nor scream it to all of East High. "Because I'm pregnant. I'm due at the end of junior year and…and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle school after he or she is born."

Mrs. Grackle let out a heavy sigh. She took off her glasses and leaned forward on her desk, rubbing her temples. "Oh, Taylor…" It was the kind of voice where you could feel the disappointment in it. "Why, Taylor? I thought you were so much smarter than this. I've had seven girls come to me this year telling me they're pregnant…. I never thought that the eighth one would be you."

Taylor looked down in shame. Hearing such regret over her news was not getting any easier. "I don't want to drop out of school. I have no intention of doing so. It's just that…I know it's not going to be easy. I need to be prepared to give up anything. Even my education. I was only hoping I could get some advice; so I'll be able to handle going to school and raising a baby."

Mrs. Grackle lifted her head and stared at the student. "I'm going to be honest with you, Ms. McKessie. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world. Nothing is about you anymore. If there's no one to raise the baby during the day you're going to have to be prepared to leave school and either finish it online or get your GED. If there's one day when the baby is sick or its caregiver can't make it you're going to have to miss a day of school. Even when you come home from school, babies cry. They need fresh clothes, attention, food…your grades could suffer because of it. You are one of East High's prized students. You should not be going through that."

"I understand, ma'am," Taylor nodded. "If I have to, I'll study for my GED. But I'm not going to unless there's no other way. I want to finish high school and get my diploma just like everyone else. I want to know what I can do to make that happen."

"Please tell me you're not merely keeping this baby so the father will stay around," the guidance counselor begged.

"No, not at all. We made the decision together," Taylor answered immediately. "This has nothing to do with my boyfriend. What it is about now is me changing my future for the sake of my baby. So is there any possible way I can work some schedule around it? Maybe if there's a few daycares around, or if there's any pamphlets with some healthy advice?"

"Ms. McKessie, you are remarkable student. I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to see you put your future in jeopardy," she replied.

"So…so there's nothing you can do to help?" Taylor asked. It looked like this was going to be a bigger challenge than she anticipated.

"I can't make high school any easier for you," she shook her head. "I can't give you the name of any daycares nearby willing to provide free service. I can see next year if any local schools would be willing to give you a scholarship. If one of your classes is offered at another time, I can switch it with free period and you could come here later or leave earlier."

"Is there any way I could have free period first or last period?" Taylor wondered.

Mrs. Grackle put her glasses back on and searched through the files on her computer. She took a long look at the list of Taylor's classes. "It's going to be a challenge. First period will be Political Science. I believe that was one of your electives. And last period is AP Economics. Neither of those classes is offered at a different time."

Taylor sighed. If she could get free period to start the day off or end the day off, that meant she could have some extra time with the baby. But then how would she get to or from school? If she and Chad got their driver's licenses over the summer and got a car, they could carpool one way. Taylor went through the two scenarios in her head. If she had free period in the morning, she could get to school later; but if she had a car and Chad took it to school it would take her longer to get there. If she could leave school earlier, she and Chad could carpool to school but then who would drive home and who would walk? This was something she was going to have to discuss with Chad. For the time being, Taylor would have to go with her gut; it'd be a matter of which class she would rather take. And as far as Taylor was considered, she found politics more interesting than economics. She didn't care how good AP classes looked on college applications; suddenly, one extra class just didn't seem worth it.

"What would I have to take instead of AP Economics?" she asked, albeit reluctantly.

"You'll have to take the regular Economics class with everyone else or US Government," Mrs. Grackle answered. "Both are offered at the current time of your free period."

"I guess I'll take US Government then," Taylor answered.

Mrs. Grackle nodded and made the changes on the computer. Once she hit enter, she printed out a copy of the schedule for Taylor and handed it to her. "I'll tell you this now, Ms. McKessie, being a mother will be the hardest job in your life. You'll have to devote all your time and energy, no questions asked. You'll have to give up a lot in your life now. But if you do your job right, it can also be the most rewarding. Two girls I already talked to about this dropped out of high school. Another is taking online classes. But the three that are still here are struggling and might get left back or pass up college. Don't turn into any of them. Don't let this hold you back, I mean it."

Taylor nodded and took the schedule. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Grackle. I'll do whatever it takes," she nodded. Taylor knew from the start it wasn't going to be easy. And when Mrs. Grackle started talking, Taylor was sure it wasn't going to end well. But what made her relieved was that under all that fear and disappointment, Mrs. Grackle really was rooting for her. And Taylor was sure Mrs. Danforth felt the same way. No matter how low people looked at her from now on, Taylor was going to prove them wrong.

"One more thing," Mrs. Grackle said before Taylor could leave. "If you're looking for people to go to for advice, try room 304 Tuesdays after school. There's a group of girls who get together then. I think you'll be able to relate to them."

Somehow, Taylor wasn't sure if that was supposed to make her feel any better.

* * *

So I know this wasn't the longest or most exciting chapter. But as I mentioned before, the story is based off of the dock-series 16 and Pregnant, and during some episodes things that are constantly brought up is school. There's been online school vs regular school and questions of college, so that was something I wanted to bring in here. And the subject of school is something in this story that's going to constantly bug Taylor for a while, of online school or East High, so i thought that was a good way to bring it up. So now ,I've got 13 chapters up. I have 29 written. Since i know this wasn't the most exciting chapter, I will upload another chapter sometime this week. That means about half of my story so far will be uploaded. That's where I need opinions from you guys. Here's what I have covered or what will be covered over the course of all the chapters I have written: stuff with Taylor's dad, arguments between Chad and his brother and how that affects his and Taylor's relationship, other teen moms, names (sorta), asking Troy and Gabriella for advice, trouble with school, Chad telling Coach Bolton, and Chad and Taylor actually trying to handle a baby (which, since I have never been around babies since I was like 5 years old, I'm not sure how realistic that chapter will be). Among other things i'm sure I'm forgetting. The point is, I'm not sure what else should be added to the story in between 29 weeks and the birth. I've thought about bringing Chad's dad in and that is an option. I've tried watching some 16 and Pregnant episodes to get ideas of all the areas covered until the birth. And I'm at a road block. So if I could get some opinions about what you guys would like to see, things I may be missing, or anything of the sort then that'd be great!Like I said, I will post chapter 14 this week to kinda make up for lost time and to hopefully add some more emotion to the story because I'm sure after a while of not updating you guys wanna see some of that. And if I can ever stop being lazy, I would love to write a few more chapters of Everyday and put up chapter 2 soon as well. But like I said, if I could have some suggestions for this story and help get rid of the writer's block, that'd be totally awesome (and I also promise to give credit where credit is due for the ideas). So thank you for reading, thank you for actually staying invested in the story and putting up with my laziness and writer's block, and I can't wait to hear what you have to say!


	14. Chapter 14

I promised there would be an update this weekend and here it is! And what better day than on Mother's Day? :P And it's not just convenient cause the story's about becoming a mom, this chapter also happens to have some bonding-like-ness between Taylor and Mrs. Danforth so it really does make sense! XD  
**Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or the characters except for the ones I made up or the idea of 16 and Pregnant. Those belong to Disney and MTV respectively.**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

_I'm getting an ultrasound today and Gabriella and Mrs. Danforth are coming with me. Chad isn't able to come because he's working overtime. I think I'm around four months now; I've lost count of the weeks easily. But I know next month we'll be able to find out for sure if it's a boy or girl. I want to wait and let it be a surprise. _

Taylor flinched as the liquid was poured onto her belly. She knew it helped the ultrasound technician get a good picture of the baby on the sonogram, but it was going to take some getting used to. Gabriella and Mrs. Danforth were sitting in the chairs next to Taylor, anxiously looking at the screen and waiting for a picture to appear. Dr. Winters watched the picture develop on the screen before speaking.

"Well it looks like you're about nineteen weeks. I'd say the conception date was around late October."

Great, Taylor thought. She didn't want to see the look on Mrs. Danforth face thinking about Taylor and Chad…well, going at it. Could it get any more embarrassing?

"How have you been doing since I saw you last?" Dr. Winters asked. "How's the boyfriend?"

"He got a job," Taylor nodded. "I've been throwing up less. My feet started to swell a bit and I've had a lot of mood swings."

"Those are all side effects of pregnancy," the doctor responded. "You might want to stay off your feet for a bit. If they get swelled up too much it's often a sign of preeclampsia, which means you'd have to deliver the baby early before it gets affected."

"Ok," Taylor nodded. It didn't sound like something she needed to be concerned about just yet.

"So should she stop walking home from school everyday?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

"How long of a walk is it?" Dr. Winters responded.

"Fifteen minutes, I guess, maybe more," Taylor said.

"Ok, it would be better if you could get a ride to and from school every day," the doctor said.

Mrs. Danforth turned to Taylor. "If you're willing to wait an extra half hour at school for me to get out of work, sweetie, I will pick you up from East High."

"I don't want to be any trouble," Taylor shook her head.

"Doing something for the sake of my grandbaby is hardly any trouble," Mrs. Danforth responded.

"And I'll stay after school with you," Gabriella offered. "We can do homework together. Oh! And I just bought a baby name book, we can go through it! How about Lux? It means light; that could be a perfect name."

"I'll pass on the names right now…again," Taylor sighed. That must have been the forth suggestion that week since Taylor invited Gabriella to the ultrasound appointment.

"Have you thought of any names already?" Dr. Winters asked.

"Sort of. We have a name for a girl, but I want it to be her middle name," Taylor answered.

"Would you like to find out now what you're having?" she asked.

Taylor shook her head.

"You can tell already?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, it might be a little hard to tell, but we could take a decent guess," Dr. Winters said.

"We'll wait a little longer," Mrs. Danforth agreed. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for my son."

"Let's move on then. I'll show you what the baby looks like," the doctor smiled. She tilted the monitor slightly towards the women. "So you can see the head over there, it's facing the wall. It looks like it's scrunching its arms underneath its head. Curled up in a little ball."

"It's cute," Gabriella smiled.

"What's it doing?" Mrs. Danforth wondered, pointing to something on the screen that looked like it was twitching.

Dr. Winters zoomed in, "It looks like it's starting to exercise its leg. Have you felt any pains in the stomach? Or maybe a little heartburn?"

"Nothing like that. Maybe a few cramps," Taylor answered.

"The baby should be moving around more," Dr. Winters said.

"Is there anything wrong? Should we be doing something?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

"Well babies do develop differently, like how women react differently to pregnancy. Some babies kick more than others, for instance," the doctor explained. "Around this time, babies are typically around six inches long. This one is on the smaller side. I'd recommend trying to eat more, give the baby some more nutrients so it can grow. It's also possible that because Taylor is smaller, her baby will be smaller."

"But it is healthy, right?" Taylor asked.

"Except for the size, everything looks like it's in check," Dr. Winters said. "I'll print out a few pictures from the exam."

There were still parts of the exam that were a blur to Taylor. She was someone who always paid attention, but seeing the pictures on the screen and being told everything by a doctor made it so surreal. She found herself pinching her arm in the car ride home to see if she was dreaming. She kept quiet on the way back to the Danforth's and stared at one of the sonogram pictures. She was going to have a baby in four months. This morning she thought she was closer to four months along. If she couldn't even remember how far along she was, how good of a mother was she going to be?

Taylor had joined Hollie and Mrs. Danforth for dinner after her ultrasound appointment. Taylor had made conversation during the meal as she often did when staying over, but since everyone else went upstairs Taylor had been sitting in the living room mainly keeping to herself.

"I'm going to go pick up Chad from work," Mrs. Danforth said a couple of hours later. When Taylor didn't answer Mrs. Danforth asked again. "Taylor."

Taylor looked up in a hurry. "What?"

"Is everything ok?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

"I'm fine," Taylor said.

"You don't look fine," she observed. She took a seat next to Taylor. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," she insisted.

"You've barely said a word since dinner. I think I can tell when you're not being yourself," Mrs. Danforth told her.

"Mood swings, I suppose," Taylor said.

"Is one of those moods scared?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders.

"I may not know much about having a baby young, but I sure know about having babies," Mrs. Danforth explained. "It's not easy. It can be one of the hardest things in the world. But as long as you've got good people by your side, you don't have anything to worry about."

"I guess…I guess it's hard to do that when there hasn't always been someone there," Taylor confessed. "I don't want to be the kind of parent my dad is."

"You learn from example," Mrs. Danforth said.

"I can't even remember what week I'm on. How am I supposed to know when my baby needs me?" Taylor replied.

"When you hear it screaming in the middle of the night," Mrs. Danforth joked.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. But it was hard to hide a small smile; clearly Chad got his sense of humor from his mother.

"My point is it's going to take some getting used to. Have you thought about meeting with other girls going through the same thing?" Mrs. Danforth replied.

"My guidance counselor did mention something about a club Tuesdays after school or something. She didn't say much about it," she answered.

"Try going this week and see what it's like," Mrs. Danforth suggested. "But for now, stay here tonight and spend some time with Chad. But not too much time – I don't want to hear any more conception dates."

Taylor's face went bright red. It was embarrassing to hear her boyfriend's mother say that, but she knew she had a point. The baby was coming and there was no stopping it. So the best thing Taylor could do was accept it and focus on the future. One thing was for sure, when Taylor saw Chad and felt his arms around hers, it felt like she had nothing at all to worry about and that she wasn't as alone as she thought.

* * *

Another short chapter, but it remains a chapter nonetheless! Ok, I just wanna clear a few things up just in case. I don't know how a sonogram appointment is supposed to go or what people are supposed to say. I attempted some research on a baby's growing process at about nineteen weeks and incorporate that, but otherwise it was all guessing on what goes on in those appointments. Which is also why it was cut short and there wasn't more detail into it. As I mentioned - and will mention this whenever medical stuff some up in these chapters - I'm not looking for anything to be medically accurate, I'm looking at the stuff purely for character/relationship development (I will probably repeat that around chapter 20). Now that that's out of the way, there's a couple of other things I'd like to say before you guys go on your merry way. I've done a lot of back-and-forth between counting the weeks. It's extremely hard to keep track. Tonight I spent like 2-3 hours making sure the weeks were on track...not to mention actually paying attention to the months each week was in because that's something I completely forgot to take into account. I now have everything up to the last chapter I have written on a post-it note to remind me. So if at any point reading this story something looks off with the numbers or I screwed up the weeks, please let me know. Especially since re-reading the story I realized I was smart enough to set the due date between June and July which makes a lot more sense than it just being concretely in June. XD Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to thank you guys (all 3 of you :P) for sharing suggestions. Those suggestions included Taylor telling Chad about her dad, bring in Chad's dad for one chapter, and more advice-asking/focusing on other characters. I plan on definitely using one of those in the next chapter I'm writing (which you probably won't see for a while because it's chapter 30 and the next chapter after this to post is chapter 15 and if I'm smart I'll update some of my other stories but I'll probably be lazy instead)...wait what was I saying? Oh yeah. Like I said, I'm definitely using one of those suggestions for chapter 30 and since I now know what month that should take place in (to account for ending junior year and such things) I think I know what chapter 31 will be about. I plan to start writing this week if I get the chance and update by the end of May or first week of June. Ok, I think that's all I have to say. Thank you for putting up with these long, boring and probably at times pointless authors' notes and also thank you to those of you who keep reading and reviewing because that makes me happy and you guys are so awesome for putting up with me! :)


	15. Chapter 15

So I know I haven't updated in weeks. My bad, had a ton of stuff going on. Sometime in May I did get to write chapter 31 but just didn't have any time to update and tonight i just started working on chapter 32. Not sure yet how successful that is or when it'll be done. But I thought i'd share a chapter before i go to bed. Enjoy.  
**Disclaimer: i do not in any way own HSM.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen **

_I'm staying after school today to check out that club of girls. I think it's a group of teen moms who meet up and get to relate to each other or something. I know I shouldn't feel demeaned by going or anything, but I don't feel like I should be going there. I suppose it's the same feeling as every teen has. This shouldn't have happened to me. I can't get pregnant. I guess going to this meeting is my way of accepting it. I still have reservations about the choices I'm making, keeping the baby and trying to juggle that with school in addition to looking for a job. But I do have people around me who are making me feel more confident in what I'm doing. Maybe all I need is a little dose of reality._

"So what's this club you're going to?" Chad asked.

Taylor shrugged her shoulders. She was taking books out of her locker to bring back for homework. Chad was leaning against the locker next to hers. She noticed he was more awake today; it was probably because they went to the rooftop garden during free period to nap. It seemed like every time Taylor was seeing Chad, it was while he was sleeping. She'd even been spending the night at his house so she could talk to him for five or ten minutes when he got back from work before falling asleep. Taylor wished she had more time with him, but she often tried to dismiss that feeling because she knew he was working hard for her.

"I think it's a club for girls like me," Taylor answered. She tried to keep it subtle as a few students passed by.

"Are you gonna go there every week?" Chad asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," Taylor shrugged her shoulders. "Why?"

"Cause I haven't seen much of you since I started working. And I'm hardly working on Tuesdays," he sighed.

"If this is something that can help me, I have to go," Taylor said.

"But if you're not gonna have time for me now, how are you gonna have time after…" he cut himself off when a few more students walked by. "…You know."

"Believe me, Chad, I feel the same way. You're always working and while I appreciate it, it's still nice to spend time with you," she replied. She closed her locker and turned to him. "You said you're not working tonight?"

"No work till four tomorrow," Chad answered.

Taylor smiled. "How about a study date after school and a movie after dinner?"

"Make it two movies with popcorn and you have a deal," Chad grinned.

"It's a date," she agreed with a smile.

Chad smiled and pecked her lips. He slipped his arm around her and they headed upstairs to the classroom. "How long do you think you'll be in there?" he wondered.

"Half hour, maybe," she answered. "Is your mom still picking us up after work?"

"Yeah. I'll text you when she gets here. We can meet by the staircase," Chad said.

"Sounds good. What are you going to do in the meantime?" Taylor asked.

Chad shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Duh, work on shooting hoops. I don't wanna lose my touch."

"You are not losing your touch," she shook her head.

Chad stood in front of her so they stopped working. "Are we talking about the same thing?" he raised an eyebrow with a grin.

Taylor smirked. "What do you think?"

"You tell me," Chad said before leaning in and kissing her.

Taylor smiled once they pulled away. "You've still got it."

"Knew it," he grinned. "So…see you at 3:30 then?"

"Yes you will," Taylor nodded. She kissed him once more before they went in opposite directions. She stopped in front of room 304 and took a deep breath. She slowly turned the knob and walked in the room. There were three girls sitting in a circle. They looked like normal teens to her; suddenly Taylor wondered what she was doing there or what she should even say. After long stares from the girls and an awkward silence Taylor settled on a measly, "Hi."

One of the girls folded her arms. "Taylor McKessie," she scoffed. "What's the future president of the United States doing here?"

"I was told to come here," she answered. "Why would that make it such a problem?"

"Because this group is for teen moms only," the redhead answered. "It's not for some project of yours or whatever."

"I'm not here to work on a project," Taylor argued.

"Well you're sure as hell not pregnant," she replied.

Taylor had half of a mind to prove this girl wrong. She wanted to give this girl what was coming to her. But why would Taylor want to prove herself to someone so irritating? This girl didn't care if Taylor stayed or not, so why should she stay? "You know what, forget it. Sorry I interrupted your little meeting," she rolled her eyes. Taylor turned to leave.

"Wait," a softer voice spoke up. She turned to the redhead. "Syria, why don't we have her show us her belly? If she is pregnant, she can stay."

"Teachers' pets don't get knocked up," Syria rolled her eyes.

The other two girls looked at Taylor expectantly. Taylor slowly turned around to them. She questioned why she even wanted to be a part of this group; did they even want her? On the other hand, she could use all the help she could get. And it would be nice to have people to turn to for advice. People who were actually going through the same things she was. Letting out a sigh, Taylor adjusted the baggy shirt she was wearing. Instead of it covering her growing baby bump, it highlighted it. The girls stared at it in shock…maybe with a combination of awe.

Taylor sighed. "That answer your question?"

Syria scoffed and looked away, but the other two girls seemed more convinced. A tanned girl with a pixie cut got up and walked over to Taylor. "I guess you really are one of us. Sorry we doubted you, we just never thought-"

"I know. I wouldn't have thought, either," Taylor admitted.

The girl led Taylor to the circle She pulled up and extra chair for Taylor before taking her seat across the room. "We should probably introduce ourselves then. I'm Ladonna. My daughter Kaniya is eighteen months old; I had her in freshman year." She gestured towards the quiet, curly-haired girl sitting to her left, "This is Carly. We're both juniors. Her daughter's six months."

"Her name's Kaylee," Carly added softly.

"And you've met Syria," Ladonna finished, pointing to the redhead. "Her son's, what, three already."

"Ethan's three and a half," Syria scoffed.

Ladonna rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, you'll get used to Syria's attitude."

"So how far along are you?" Carly wondered.

"Twenty weeks," Taylor answered though a bit sheepishly.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" Ladonna asked.

Taylor shook her head. "I want to keep it a surprise."

"I did that with my daughter, too," Ladonna smiled. "But I almost thought I was gonna have a boy. So I got a ton of boy-themed stuff. Kaniya was almost a Quinly. But it turned out, she loves playing with the cars and trains."

"How did you come up with those names?" Taylor asked curiously.

"I wanted my baby's name to be unique, something you don't hear every day so there's no way they could be confused with some other kid with the same name," Ladonna explained.

"I found Kaylee in a baby book," Carly answered. "Syria, what about you?"

Syria rolled her eyes.

"C'mon girl, share the love," Ladonna encouraged.

"Why should I? It's none of her business," Syria retorted.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed," Ladonna muttered. She turned back to Taylor. "We think she just wanted to take a name she likes and make it her own. When Ethan gets in trouble and she uses his middle name…well, you'll see what I mean. So, enough about us. Did you come up with any names yet?"

"Sort of…a middle name. But we don't know what's going with it yet," she answered.

"We?" Ladonna repeated, confused.

"My boyfriend and I," Taylor answered.

"You're still with your baby daddy?" Ladonna asked.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Yeah…we've been together three years already."

"So you really think he's gonna stick around?" Ladonna asked.

"Of course. He's gotten a job already. We're trying to work out how to handle next year. Why wouldn't he stick around?" Taylor replied. Granted, she asked herself the same question. Why did Chad stick around? But so far he's done nothing to prove he was running away. So she had no reason to doubt him.

"It's just that…" Ladonna took a minute to think. "Babies change things. Most baby daddies don't like to take on all that responsibility. They think the momma can do all the work and he can get away with living his life like the baby never happened."

"Oh please, you really expect her to understand that?" Syria laughed. "She's dating one of the basketball players, girls. He probably totally seduced her or something into thinking he's sticking around so when the going gets tough he can run in the other direction."

Taylor narrowed her gaze. "Chad's not like that."

"Right, I forgot. It just so happens to be the player who got sent to detention almost every day in middle school," Syria replied.

"How would you even know that?" Taylor questioned.

"None of your business," she retorted. "And anyway, you don't get a guy like that to settle down with some nerd in high school."

"Alright, Syria, that's enough," Ladonna intervened. "Just cause your baby daddy left you the minute you told him, that don't mean every guy's like that. Hell, look at what happened to Carly's fiancé. He went into the army the first chance he got and's been sending them money ever since."

There was a squeak heard form Carly. The girls turned to her and the petite girl was curled into a ball on her chair.

"Oh ***," Ladonna mumbled.

Syria stood up, "See what you did, Ladonna? You know better than to bring him up when Carly's around. I think we've done enough damage for today. Meeting adjourned."

"You can't adjourn the meeting. I can't pick up my baby till four," Ladonna argued.

"Then I guess it's your problem today, because I'm not about to stick around and listen to this garbage," Syria responded. She threw her backpack over her shoulder and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

"What's her problem?" Taylor asked.

"She has a bit of a temper," Ladonna answered. She turned her attention to Carly, who was now shaking. Ladonna rubbed the girl's back. "I'm sorry, Carly. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Is everything ok?" Taylor asked.

"Carly don't like to talk about it," Ladonna said softly. "It's best we save that story for another day. But I am sorry about Syria's outburst. She ain't always like that."

"It's fine. I've heard worse, believe me," Taylor said.

"Well whatever she says, you're still pretty lucky to have your baby daddy sticking around," she replied.

"I know," Taylor nodded. "I'm really grateful to him and his family."

"Well if you ever run into any problems with them, the door's here always open," Ladonna said. "We meet every Tuesday at three. My momma come gets me at four, and we pick up Kaniya from daycare."

Carly sniffed and rubbed her eyes, but seemed to calm down. "Her aunt runs a daycare. She watches Kaylee sometimes, too."

"We usually pay her by doing favors on the weekend," Ladonna continued. "Our girls have a playdate with Ethan on Saturdays and we do chores for my auntie for a couple of hours. So if you ever need anyone to watch your little one after it's born."

"I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to be any trouble," Taylor said. She looked at the clock, and then gathered her books. "I should probably go meet Chad."

"Will we see you next week?" Carly asked.

"We can make you feel like on of the group. Any questions you have, you can come hang with us," Ladonna added.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure Syria would like that?"

"Nope," she shook her head right away. "But us teen moms gotta stick together."

"I guess we do…" Taylor said. It was a strange first meeting, but with one exception the group did seem nice enough. And it probably would be a good idea to hear different sides; if anything happened to her like that happened to these girls then she'd know how to handle it. And if it gave her baby a group of friends to play with in the future, Taylor sure wasn't going to say no to that. "I'll see you girls next week."

* * *

This was a fun chapter to write when i wrote it. I wanted to add some more characters and especially after the guidance counselor telling Taylor there were other teen moms at the school I figured this'd be a good opportunity to bring them in. I have no idea where i got the names of these girls from, they were kinda random, but the names for their kids I picked out because of the name trends. I'm pretty sure Ethan's one of the top most popular names, Kaylee's been getting more popular and Kaniya goes with the parents wanting their kids' names to be more unique. Spoiler - the name Chad and Taylor eventually pick out for their baby go with none of those themes (even though i haven't gotten that far writing it yet xD). But pretty much i was just trying to create a diverse group. Though for some reason every time i write Carly I imagine her with Fluttershy's voice and mannerisms from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. o.o Yeah, i'm a strange girl. But the point is that it gives a chance for Taylor to relate to other girls in her situation and get more comfortable with the idea. We can't have her hanging around jerks like Timothy can we? xD Anyway like i said, i have up to chapter 31 written. I dunno when i'm gonna get to finishing chapter 32 or when the next update will be but i guess if i know what's good for me i should post one by the end of this month so you guys don't wait too long. I know i wait forever to read some Chaylor stories. :P Ok i'm gonna stop typing now cause i'm sleepy and if i don't i know i'm gonna say something weird like gluttenstein or something. Goodnight everyone! :)


	16. Chapter 16

I said I'd get a chapter up before the end of June and since it's technically the last day of June, i stuck to my word! xD Enjoy what may or may not be your monthly Chaylor fill!  
**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

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**Chapter Sixteen **

_I've been going home a lot less lately. I think in the past week I've only been home twice. I try not to think about what'll happen if my dad notices I'm not home. But I'm so much more comfortable at Chad's house. I still feel bad that Chad and his brother aren't talking because of me, but his mom makes me feel so welcome there. Today is one of Chad's few nights off from work and his mom says she has a surprise for us._

Mrs. Danforth pulled in front of East High. Chad and Taylor walked up to the Jeep and put their books in the back seat. They were about to climb in the back seat as well when Mrs. Danforth got their attention.

"No, no, no, no," she told them, getting out of the car.

"What's up, Mom?" Chad asked.

"You aren't riding in the back today," Mrs. Danforth replied. "Chad, I love you but I can't keep driving you to and from work every other day. You are going to be a father. There is a little person who's going to be relying on you. If you don't know how to drive and you're with the baby alone but it needs to go to the hospital, what are you going to do?"

"Uh…" Chad stammered.

Mrs. Danforth didn't even let him try to come up with a better response. "Exactly. You've had your learner's permit for months now. I think it's time you start learning how to drive." She then turned to Taylor, "What about you? Has your father taught you anything about driving?"

Taylor shook her head. "I took Driver's Ed last semester. I have my learner's permit but I haven't been able to practice since then for a road test."

"Then we'd better get started," Mrs. Danforth said. She got into the passenger's seat. "You first, Taylor. Show me what you remember."

Chad and Taylor exchanged glances. Chad shrugged his shoulders before getting into the back seat. Taylor took a deep breath and got on the driver's side. She adjusted the mirrors and then buckled her seat belt. She put the car in reverse and slowly backed the car up until she came to an abrupt stop. A squirrel scurried out of the street from behind the car and up a nearby tree. Taylor let out a sigh of relief.

"You're very observant, Taylor," Mrs. Danforth said. "But if it's smaller than a cat, don't worry about hitting something. Now how about you show me how you handle driving in the school speed zone?"

Taylor nodded. She switched the car to drive and rode at twenty miles an hour. She slowed down at the crosswalk and stopped at every stop sign she saw. When Mrs. Danforth instructed her to turn, Taylor stopped the car before turning down one of the side streets.

"You don't have to stop every time you make a turn," Mrs. Danforth said. "If there's a stop sign or you see a car coming, then you stop."

"Right. Sorry, I must have forgotten," Taylor apologized.

"Don't worry about it. This is just a refresher to see how you're doing," she replied.

Taylor wasn't doing anywhere near as well as she thought she would. She hit the curb during parallel parking, drove under the speed limit, and stopped at yellow lights. When Chad got behind the wheel he made it look so easy. It seemed like second nature to him. It made Taylor a little jealous that Chad was able to only study to get his learner's permit and then do so well on the road while she had practiced driving and now she was messing up. She wondered how it was going to be if she had to rely on Chad for rides everywhere.

After about an hour or so of driving, Mrs. Danforth treated the couple to ice cream. They each got a cone and sat at one of the booths in the ice cream place.

"So what are you two going to do about school next year?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

"We haven't discussed it yet," Taylor shook her head.

"I'm still thinking about doing online school so I can work at night and Tay can go to school during the day," Chad said.

"Why would you want that?" Mrs. Danforth asked.

"Cause if there's no one during the day to watch the baby it's not gonna be Taylor staying home," Chad said.

"But that is my decision," Taylor pointed out. "And if I feel like I have to do online classes or get my GED…"

"But you don't want that," Chad replied. "I'm fine getting the PET if I have to."

"GED," Taylor corrected. "And you shouldn't have to miss out on senior year."

"Neither of you should be missing out on senior year," Mrs. Danforth pointed out. "Have you thought about asking Bryan if he can watch the baby when he's not in class? He doesn't have classes on Mondays and Wednesdays until one."

"Mom, Bryan still hates my guts, remember?" Chad sighed.

"And one person watching the baby half a day doesn't solve the rest of the time," Taylor added.

"I mean, I can see if there's some days I can work the later shift but I can't make any promises," Mrs. Danforth said. "But if I can get those shifts, I would need help. Bryan would be the obvious choice so that means you have to make it right with him."

"This isn't your baby, Mrs. Danforth. It's ours," Taylor said. "We're the ones who should be taking care of it."

"That doesn't mean you have to do it alone," Mrs. Danforth replied. "I think the two of you need to sit down and discuss what you want to do next year and where you want to go with your lives. And that's what makes this more difficult for you both. It's kids having kids; you don't have the life experience yet to know what to do in these situations."

The statement reminded Taylor of one of the reasons why she was so iffy about having the baby in the first place; she could act as mature as she wanted and she could be the smartest person in the world, but she was still a kid. What made her qualified to raise a baby? That she practically raised herself? That meant nothing when, in raising herself, she took what she could find in the house and spent most of her time out. She couldn't just walk out when somebody else needed her. Taylor wanted to say she lost her appetite and leave the shop, but she was still hungry. She took a few small licks of her ice cream and rubbed her belly lightly with her free hand, feeling a little movement inside.

Chad looked down, then back at his mom. "Would it make it any easier if we moved out?"

"You are not moving out," Mrs. Danforth answered right away. "You're barely making enough money now to afford the basic baby supplies. How much harder do you think it's going to be if you have to buy diapers, clothes, formula and food and pay rent or bills?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I just thought-"

"Not another word, mister. Now don't you dare think that because you need help doesn't mean it's any trouble. You two are not moving anywhere and that is the end of that topic. Take all the time you need to save up money, go to school and do your thing. But until you're both ready to stand on your own two feet I don't want to hear anything else about moving out."

"Ok Mom," Chad sighed.

Taylor bit her lip. "So…does that mean I'll be able to see the baby every day?"

Mrs. Danforth was puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"I…I'm sorry, I just thought…isn't the baby going to live with you?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, but we thought you were, too," Chad said, clearly just as confused.

"No…I'd be staying at home," Taylor responded.

"But you and your dad don't get along. Why would you wanna stay there?" Chad asked.

That was a good question; why did Taylor want to stay with her dad? "I guess because it's hard enough making room for a baby. I don't want you to have to worry about making room for me, too."

"How many times do I have to get it through your head that you are far from any trouble?" Mrs. Danforth asked. "I swear you're just as stubborn as Chad. You two are perfect for each other."

"Try getting the stubborn thing through her head, she doesn't think she's that stubborn," Chad chuckled. He turned to Taylor. "But c'mon Tay, you practically live with us anyway. Why not make it official?"

The first thing that came to Taylor's mind was that it was for her and Chad's sake. If she and Chad moved in together and they ended up having a fight and broke up, where would Taylor go? Who would keep the baby? How would they work everything out? She didn't want to have to rely on Chad and his family for everything. She hardly had to rely on anyone growing up and she didn't want to start now.

"I don't know," she said.

"I'm going to go finish my ice cream in the car. You two work this out," Mrs. Danforth said. "Our door's always open for you, Taylor. No questions asked."

Taylor took a few more licks of her ice cream as Mrs. Danforth left the shop. She had no idea how she was going to come to an agreement with Chad about this. They were being asked to make a very adult decision on their own. Taylor supposed she deserved it though; they made an adult decision in the first place so now they had to grow up.

"Look, I know my room doesn't have that much space, but I can make room for your stuff. You practically live with us anyway," Chad said.

"I know. But my dad…" her voice trailed off. She was probably already going to get it for hardly being home this week. If she abruptly moved out and he had no idea where he was... Taylor shuddered to think what would happen if he found her or saw her walking down the street.

"You and your dad don't get along. There's no point in staying there," he replied. "Wouldn't it make it easier if we were under one roof and can take turns with all the junk?"

"How would you know what's easier?" Taylor questioned. "It would have been easier if you did all your homework and never got in trouble, and look how many detentions you've gotten."

"Yeah well, how less have I been in detention since we started going out?" Chad replied. "With you around I don't think I'm gonna screw up as much. I can't afford to screw up with you."

"Why would you think that you would screw up?" Taylor asked.

"Face it, Tay. You could do better than me. And everyone knows it," Chad explained. "Now we're gonna have a kid so…I kinda need to prove you're making the right choice."

"I already know I made the right choice," Taylor replied. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I just…I don't want us to live together and end up fighting or breaking up and then it gets awkward or I'd have to take the baby and move somewhere else."

"But if you don't move in we're gonna keep arguing about it. What's the difference?" Chad asked.

"I don't know," she sighed.

Chad rested his head against Taylor's. When he shifted his body, the remainder of his ice cream fell off the cone and splattered on the floor. "I lost my ice cream," he pouted.

Taylor lifted her cone to him. "You can share mine."

Chad scrunched his nose and backed away. "Are you kidding? You made them put pickles in it. I'm not eating that!"

Taylor giggled. "Fine, more for me."

"The baby's gonna want pickled ice cream for dessert every night," Chad complained.

"Grow up," she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Ok how's this for grown up, what can we agree on?" Chad replied.

"That the baby lives in your house," she said.

"And we both finish school," Chad added.

"About that…" Taylor said. "I think I am taking online classes next year."

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to ask your mom or any member of your family to stay home and watch our child. I can still graduate with our class if I take classes online, and I'd feel more comfortable if I stayed home," she explained.

"But what about the whole resenting thing?" he asked. "Like if I get out of the house more than you?"

"I guess I'll have to deal with it," she shrugged her shoulders.

"But I don't want you to end up hating me cause of school. It's your thing, not mine. So wouldn't it make sense if I took online classes or something?" Chad replied.

"I can do work on my own. It's best if you have someone there actually teaching you," she said. "Besides would you even be able to handle the baby on your own?"

"I helped raise my sister," Chad pointed out.

"You were seven when she was born," she responded.

"And she still turned out fine," he said.

Taylor shook her head. "Can you please just trust my judgment on this one?"

"I do trust you, I just…I don't want you to hate me or something," he said.

"I couldn't hate you," she shook her head. "But we do need to work things out. The baby's due by July. We don't have much time left."

"So there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" Chad asked.

"No, there's not," she shook her head. She kissed Chad on the cheek, then left to go out to the Jeep.

* * *

I've got a ton of catching up to do. This is now 16 chapters posted and i still have only one page of chapter 31 written. I know what i write in chapter 31, but it's a matter of having time to write. This month one of my best friends is finally home from school and is planning for grad school so she and i are trying to see each other as much as possible. Add on other things to do and other people to see, continuing a job search...it all takes up a lot of time. I'm gonna make my goal to have chapter 31 written by the end of July so then i can get another chapter up. And if anyone wants to motivate me, feel free to! xD Now for my chapterly explanation. Yes, i'm making chapterly a word now. At first i wasn't sure what i wanted to write, but i figured it'd be a good idea to show Chad and Taylor still trying to do teenage things. One of those things is driving. But it was hard for me to write everything that could possibly be done. How would i explain in detail the practicing and the rules and stuff? So i figured, let's add some more conflict. In one of the previous chapters, Taylor met with her guidance counselor to fix her schedule for senior year. But that shouldn't be the end of it. I see Taylor as a perfectionist; so if she's the slightest bit unsure how something's gonna work out, she wants to fix it. Does that make any sense? And although i know it's unorthodox for the guy to wanna stay home with the baby, the fact that they are - in some way or another - communicating about it and trying to make it work for each other helps show one of the reasons why maybe teen parents don't work out, because they don't talk to each other and the guy takes the easier way out while the mom is always at home with the baby. Just a theory, anyway. So hopefully you guys enjoyed it and i'll be keeping an eye out for more Chaylor stories! ^^


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